Investigative journalists from Slidstvo.info alleged that Ukrainian officials tried to halt the screening of a film about offshore companies tied to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle.
After they went public, the screening of the “Offshore 95: Secrets of the President Zelensky’s business” took place as initially planned in the Mala Opera theater owned by the city.
The showing was part of the synchronized international premiere of the Pandora Papers investigation, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Oct. 3.
Read More: Pandora Papers Reveal Offshore Holdings of Ukrainian President and his Inner Circle
Zelensky, his top aide Serhiy Shefir and Security Service of Ukraine head Ivan Bakanov were among the 38 Ukrainian nationals mentioned in the Pandora Papers.
Slidstvo.info, which investigated Ukrainian officials as part of the Pandora Papers, created a 55-minute documentary showing how offshore companies were allegedly tied to the president.
The film linked the offshore companies to London real estate worth millions of dollars.
According to Anna Babinets, chief editor at Slidstvo.info, five hours prior to the screening she received a call from Oleksiy Prasol, acting director of Mala Opera, saying the showing was canceled.
“Prasol called us and said that ‘we will not show the investigative documentary about the president,” Babinets wrote.
“Oleksiy (Prasol) claimed that they have no electricity and are under repair. I arrived and made sure that there is electricity and no repairs are ongoing,” Babinets wrote. “However, our film posters had already been removed.”
But after Babinets’ post went viral online, the screening took place as planned.
“The head of Mala Opera backed down and allowed to show “Offshore 95” where and when we originally planned it,” Slidstvo.info wrote in its official Facebook group.
The venue and its director Prasol didn’t respond to the Kyiv Post prior to publication.
Pandora Papers, published on Oct. 3, revealed offshore holdings of 35 current and former heads of state, alongside 400 officials from nearly 100 countries. The investigation was based on 11.9 million leaked documents from 14 offshore service providers.
According to the leak, in 2019 Zelensky transferred his offshore holdings to his former business partner Shefir, while the nominal owner of some offshore companies was Zelensky’s childhood friend Bakanov, who used to be a lawyer. Bakanov was later appointed head of the Security Service.
The offshore companies were used to buy lavish real estate properties, while the influx of money came from other offshore companies, some of them connected to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
Kolomoisky’s 1+1 media holding was the key buyer of the TV series, shows and films created by Kvartal 95 production studio, founded by Zelensky.
Kolomoisky, the former owner of PrivatBank, is sued in Israel, Ukraine, the U.K, and the U.S for allegedly vacuuming up to $5.5 billion through offshores prior to the bank’s nationalization.
