Andriy Verevskyy
Founder and Board Chairman of Kernel, a Ukrainian diversified agriculture company
Member of Parliament during 2002–2013
Offshore Links
Leaked emails and documents from Appleby show that Verevskyy is the beneficial owner of an Isle of Man company, AV Aviation Ltd. The company is the registered owner of a Dassault Falcon 2000 private jet, which was bought for $25,000,000 in August 2014 using a combination of Verevskyy’s personal wealth and a loan from BNP Paribas.
Anton Prygodskyy
Ukrainian politician and businessman who was a member of parliament from 2006 until 2014
Offshore Links
According to records leaked from Malta’s company registry, Prygodskyy owns shares in two local companies: Ala Int. Limited and Tuc Limited, registered, respectively, in February 2011 and October 2013. According to financial reports, the companies were involved in building the Dutch-made luxury yacht Santa Maria T. Prygodskyy did not mention the companies in his wealth declarations to parliament.
Igor Nikonov
Construction businessman, informal advisor to Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko
Offshore Links
In April 2016, the Ukrainian law firm Avellum started the process of creating a foundation for Nikonov. According to a leaked email, an Appleby manager, Sean Dowling, traveled to Kyiv at some point prior to April 5, 2014, to meet Nikonov about creating the foundation. It is unclear what purpose the foundation was intended for, or if it was ever established.
In an email response to OCCRP, Nikonov’s company KAN Development confirmed it had hired Avellum for the purposes of an investment in the European Union, but said that the deal never went ahead.
Kostyantyn Zhevago
Chief Executive Officer of Ukrainian mining company Ferrexpo
Member of Parliament since 1998
Finance director of Finance & Credit bank in 1992, eventually bought the business, which went bankrupt in 2015
Offshore Links
Leaked documents from the Bahamas company registry show Zhevago as the sole director, between 1997 and 1998, of Pharma Distributing Corp. It is unclear what the company’s business activities were or if it is still active.
Petro Poroshenko
President of Ukraine
Owner of Roshen, Ukraine’s largest confectionary company
Interests in automotive plants, a shipyard, a television channel, and the country’s largest confectionery company
Offshore Links
Poroshenko’s name turns up in correspondence between the Ukrainian law firm Avellum Partners and the Appleby law firm in the Isle of Man in June 2014. In the leaked correspondence, lawyers at Avellum asked Appleby for help in setting up an offshore holding company as part of a restructuring of Roshen. When contacted, Poroshenko’s presidential press office directed OCCRP’s questions to Avellum. In a written response, Avellum said the offshore restructure was necessary for the planned sale of Roshen and to ensure that the maximum amount of tax would be paid in Ukraine.
Vadym Gurzhos
Businessman who has headed the country’s State Road Administration and served as the deputy head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration from 2006 to 2008
Offshore Links
Leaked Maltese registry documents show Gurzhos named as director of two local companies, Alu Idea Co. Ltd. and Worldfone 1 Co. Ltd., since March 2011 and September 2013 respectively. It is unclear what activities the companies may have undertaken.
Valeriy Voshchevskyy
Ukrainian entrepreneur
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine from December 2014 until September 2015, overseeing national ecology, infrastructure and construction.
Offshore Links
Voshchevskyy appears in leaked records from the Malta company registry as a director and shareholder of the Maltese company Marfa holding Ltd. The company was established in December 2013 and was dissolved in January 2016. Its purpose was unclear; there are no publicly disclosed activities in Ukraine or elsewhere. Voshchevskyy did not disclose his interest in the company in his asset declaration as vice prime minister, as required by law.
Sergiy Oleksiyenko
Board member of Ukrtransgaz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state oil and gas company Naftogaz
Former advisor to Naftogaz’s chief executive officer, Andriy Kobolyev
Offshore Links
In December 2015, the Ukrainian law firm Avellum Partners, acting on Oleksiyenko’s behalf, sought Appleby’s help in creating “a foundation or a trust” on the Isle of Man. The plan, outlined by Avellum lawyers, was to use the entity to set up a foreign bank account in order to avoid strict currency controls implemented in Ukraine in 2013. In 2016, Oleksiyenko planned to use Isle of Man lawyers to transfer $1 million to the foundation, named Pioneer Foundation, according to leaked documents.
In an interview with OCCRP, Oleksiyenko confirmed he had the foundation set up, but said no bank account was created. He shared with OCCRP a document from Estera, a “fiduciary and administration services” arm of Appleby, showing that Pioneer was dissolved in April 2017.
Serhiy Kivalov
Member of Parliament
Head of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission during the 2004 presidential election, disputes over which prompted the country’s Orange Revolution
Offshore Links
Kivalov appears in the leaked Bahamas business registry as a director, from 1998 to 1999, of the company Golden Gate Bay Ltd. The documents list Kivalov as having an address in Nassau, Bahamas. It is unclear what the company’s business activities were or if it is still active.
Vadim Shulman
Businessman with interests in mining, chemicals, energy, and telecommunications
Close associate of Ukrainian oligarchs Ihor Kolomoiskyy and Gennady Bogolyubov
Since 2006, chair of Ukraine Tennis Federation
Offshore Links
According to Appleby records, Shulman, who lives in Monaco, bought a brand new Gulfstream G450 jet direct from the manufacturer for $35,000,000 in 2012. Appleby helped Shulman set up a network of companies in the Isle of Man and British Virgin Islands for the purposes of operating and servicing the aircraft. In internal documents, the firm refers to the aircraft deal as of “high risk.”
Shulman did not respond to reporters’ requests for comment.
Ihor Urbansyy
Member of Parliament from 2006 to 2007
Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications between 2007 and 2009
His son Aleksandr Urbanskyy is a member of parliament aligned with President Petro Poroshenko.
Offshore Links
Leaked Malta registry documents show Urbanskyy as director of two local firms, G. A. Shipping Co. Ltd. and South Pole Navigation Ltd. G. A. Shipping is listed as being owned by Kaalbye Group, a shipping company founded by Urbanskyy.
Urbanskyy did not respond to reporters’ requests for comment.
Source: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
