Presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedy actor who gained television fame for his scathing political satire of the ruling elites, appears to have lied about closing his profitable film production business in 2014, after Kremlin invaded Ukraine and seized parts of its territories.
Journalists found that Zelenskiy and his business partners still own three filmmaking companies in Russia, one of which produces movies and television series for the Russian market and appeared to even receive funds from the Russian government.
In the latest episode of Schemes, RFE/RL’s investigative program, aired on Jan. 17, journalists revealed that three Russian companies – Weisberg Pictures, Platinumfilm, and Green Films – share the same founder with Zelenskiy’s production studio Kvartal 95 in Ukraine – a Cyprus-registered firm called Green Family Ltd. (The name of the company appears to derive from Zelenskiy, “zeleniy” meaning “green” in Ukrainian and Russian.)
Green Family’s ultimate beneficiaries are Zelenskiy himself, his business partners Andriy Yakovlev, Borys and Serhiy Shefir. Another beneficiary is Timur Mindich, a man identified as an associate of Ihor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian oligarch who is widely thought to be a backer of Zelenskiy’s presidential campaign. In the past, Zelenskiy claimed he had “only business ties” with Kolomoisky.
A popular comedy actor and producer Zelenskiy is well-known in Russia where he made movies and appeared in comedy shows. However, things have changed since Russia waged a war against Ukraine, and in December interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon, the actor said he had turned down work offers from Russia despite “astronomic pay” and had made his last Russian movie in 2012.
However, journalists showed some evidence that his Russian business is up and running and has earned some $13 million since 2014.
In 2015 and 2016, Green Films released two romantic comedies starring Zelenskiy in the lead role – “Eight New Dates” and “Eight Best Dates” – both films are the sequels to Kvartal 95’s 2012 hit “Eight First Dates.”
In addition, Green Films made a TV series “Nesterov’s Loop” and a feature film “Between Us, Girls” that were released in 2015. At the moment, the studio is working on a thriller “Down” that won a grant from the federal budget.
RFE/RL unsuccessfully requested an extended interview with Zelenskiy as one of the presidential candidates.
The press service of Kvartal 95 replied to Schemes’ reporter in a written statement: “Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been building his production business for many years, that’s why the company has property and other assets not only in Cyprus but in Italy, the United Kingdom, etc.”
“Aware of the situation, Kvartal 95 studio doesn’t produce anything on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the press service stated. Still, the records found by the journalists show at least one film is in production by one of the Russian companies.
When the Schemes’ reporter Maksym Savchuk approached Zelenskiy for a comment outside of his office in Kyiv, he was accused of not willing to sit down for an interview “like all normal journalists,” even though the journalist said the showman’s press service had ignored interview requests.
“I don’t owe you anything. The only people I owe anything to are my parents,” the actor said in a tone that could be described as aggressive.
When Savchuk asked to comment on three Russian companies owned through a Cyprus firm, Zelenskiy snapped “It’s not true” and “I don’t work with them.”
In an Instagram video posted the next day, on Jan. 18, Zelenskiy apologized to the journalist for his rude behavior. He denied working in Russia personally but didn’t address the key revelation of the Schemes’ investigation: His active company in Russia receives funding from the Russian government.
“Neither Kvartal 95, nor me work in Russia. We don’t travel there. I don’t perform there. There’s an open criminal proceeding against me because Kvartal 95 helped the Ukrainian Army financially,” he said in a video posted on Jan. 18.
“Our company owns a lot of rights. We sell to 21 countries. We sell intellectual property rights on our formats, scripts, ideas. Money from selling those rights and royalty goes to different companies abroad but from there, money returns to Ukraine. We spend this money on our employees and our content production. We work only in Ukraine.”
