The Ukrainian president avoids questions on his offshore dealings, said ,”Slidstvo.Info’ chief investigator Anna Babinets said in an interview to ‘Detector media’ watchdog Monday.
The documentary ‘Offshore 95: secrets of president Zelensky’s business’, produced by ‘Slidstvo.Info’ was made part of Pandora Papers report.
With Volodymyr Zelensky still tight-lipped about the documentary allegations, the official reaction came only from his senior advisor Mykhailo Podoliak who swiftly dismissed the story, saying ‘there was nothing new’ about it.
According to Anna Babinets, a few weeks before the release of the film, the Ukrainian president office was approached with media requests by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Suddeutsche Zeitung, and the BBC.
None of them got any response to their requests.
The Pandora Papers investigaton made public a massive trove of leaked financal records that shed light on dubious offshore dealings of hundeds of politicians, businesmen and A-list celebrities.
Ukraine features prominently in Pandora Papers investigation with almost 40 Ukrainians named among scores of politicians and businessmen who used offshore companies for questionable deals and property acquisitions.
Slidstvo.Info’ reporters claim Pandora Papers got information on Zelensky’s offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, Belize and Cyprus.
The alleged involvement of president Zelensky in money laundering sparked protests in Ukraine and abroad.