But he says the company is facing intensifying pressure from law enforcement agencies due to his reform efforts.
Ukrhazvydobuvannya’s premises were searched by the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine on May 11. Sergii Leshchenko, a lawmaker from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, described the searches as pressure aimed at restoring corruption at the company.
He argues that lawmakers from the People’s Will (Volya Narodu) faction are attempting to re-assert their influence over the company by using prosecutors.
Executives linked to the People’s Will were fired from Ukrhazvydobuvannya last year. People’s Will members were accused of running corrupt schemes at the company, though they deny the accusations.
Prokhorenko has headed Ukrhazvydobuvannya since last June. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Kennedy School of Government, and used to work for Bridgewater Associates, Jumeirah Group and McKinsey.
Anti-reformer of the week
President Petro Poroshenko allegedly transferred money to his Cypriot firm in March, according to an investigation by Slidstvo.info released on May 18.
There was no way to legally transfer the funds, since the National Bank of Ukraine banned all investments made abroad if they exceed $50,000, Slidstvo.info said. The Cypriot transaction was worth 3.9 million euros but it was not clear how much of it was in cash and how much in shares. Poroshenko has also so far failed to provide a convincing explanation on why he did not declare a British Virgin Islands firm that he set up in 2014. Earlier in May documents on the offshore firms of Poroshenko’s allies, including a company accused of money laundering, were also published.
Last week Poroshenko’s right-hand man Ihor Kononenko, who faces many accusations of corruption, was reinstated as a deputy head of the Poroshenko Bloc’s faction. Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged that another key Poroshenko ally, Oleksandr Hranovsky, is interfering with judges and prosecutors. Kononenko and Hranovsky deny the accusations.
