JOIN USUkraine presidency seeks to stem 'Pandora Papers' fallout
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office on Monday sought to justify his use of offshore companies as protecting him against pro-Russian forces, following leaked revelations in the Pandora Papers.
A former comedian, Zelensky was elected president in 2019 on promises to fight corruption and reduce the influence of oligarchs in the ex-Soviet country.
But the files obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and published Sunday claimed that Zelensky and his partners established a network of offshore companies back in 2012.
The investigation involving some 600 journalists from outlets including The Washington Post and the BBC is based on a leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the world.
Explained | What is the Pandora Papers exposé?
According to its findings, two of the offshore companies belonging to Zelensky's partners were used to buy three lavish properties in central London.
The report also found that Zelensky, just before he was elected, transferred his stake in one of the offshore companies to his top aide Sergiy Shefir — the target of a shooting attack last month.
An adviser to Zelensky's chief of staff said Monday that the president had created the offshore companies to "protect" the group's incomes against the "aggressive actions" of the "corrupt" regime of then pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
"Journalists have de facto confirmed the president's absolute respect for the standards of anti-corruption legislation," Mykhailo Podoliak told AFP.
Podoliak, however, did not comment on the revelations of the investigation, which said that the president's wife has continued to receive dividends from an offshore company.
Supporters of another ex-president, Petro Poroshenko — a billionaire defeated by Zelensky in 2019 and who also appeared in an earlier investigation into offshore companies — accused Zelensky of tax evasion.
"He and his accomplices took funds offshore without paying any taxes to the Ukrainian budget," Iryna Gerashchenko, a lawmaker from Poroshenko's faction, wrote on Facebook.
Before becoming president, Zelensky played a history teacher in a comedy series who was elected president after denouncing endemic graft.
In his election campaign, he cultivated an image of a leader seeking to "break the system" and promised a fierce fight against corruption in one of Europe's poorest countries.
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