Ukrainian "anti-oligarch" President Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle's network of offshore companies were not exposed in Panama Papers but can be found in the Pandora Papers, another tranche of files leaked by journalists that revealed the clandestine financial affairs of the elite and super rich.
The huge leak of tax haven files by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed the secret offshore holdings of 336 politicians from more than 90 countries, Zelensky among them.
The former comedian was elected Ukraine's president in April 2019 to help fight corruption and the influence of oligarchs on the ex-Soviet country. He rode into the presidency on a wave of public anger over the corruption of the country's political class, including some who used shell companies to hide their wealth overseas.
The Pandora Papers, published in October 2021, showed that Zelensky and his inner circle established a web of offshore companies in 2012. They show that the president and the partners in his television company, Kvartal 95, had offshore firms when they were making regular content for TV stations owned by Ihor Kolomoisky, an oligarch accused of multibillion-dollar fraud.
Perhaps the most famous show Zelensky was in was Servant of the People. Zelensky plays a history teacher whose anti-corruption rant in class is filmed by a student, goes viral online, and wins him the presidency.
The Pandora Papers showed that two offshore companies belonging to Zelensky's partners were used to buy three upmarket properties in central London.
The papers showed that weeks before he won the presidential vote, Zelensky gave his stake in the British Virgin Islands-registered Maltex Multicapital Corp. to his business partner, Serhiy Shefir, who would later become a top presidential aide.
However, the document shows that an arrangement would soon be made to allow the company to continue paying dividends to a company that belongs to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska. The Pandora Papers did not indicate whether the dividends were ever paid or their size. The documents also don't say how many dividends were paid.
Shefir produced Zelensky's hit TV shows. Shefir's brother, Borys, who wrote the scripts, is also listed as an owner in Zelensky's network of offshore companies. Ivan Bakanov, a general director of Kvartal 95 and a longtime friend of the president, also has ownership in the companies. Bakanov was head of Ukraine's powerful SBU security agency between 2019 and 2022.
A Zelensky adviser at the time claimed that the companies were formed to "protect" the group's income against the "aggressive actions" of the "corrupt" government of then pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
"Journalists have de facto confirmed the president's absolute respect for the standards of anti-corruption legislation," Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podoliak told the AFP news agency at the time.
Newsweek reached out to Zelensky's office for comment. He has not publicly commented on the claim so far.
On Tuesday, several Ukrainian officials resigned in a corruption crackdown.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Dutton is a Newsweek Reporter based in Cape Town, South Africa. His focus is reporting on global politics and ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
