Burisma-Connected Oligarch Who Funded Zelensky’s Campaign Raided by Ukrainian Security Forces

Ukrainian security forces moved in to search the home of Ihor Kolomoiskiy, a prominent billionaire who was once called the billionaire behind the president. Prior to becoming president, Zelensky played one on tv, and that sitcom was on a network owned by Kolomoiskiy. The now-raided oligarch also funded his presidential campaign.  

Kolomoiskiy faces charges of embezzlement amounting to over $1 billion from the two oil companies with whom he was associated. Zelensky’s government took both companies under martial law in November. 

Kolomoiskiy was very close to Zelensky during Zelensky’s presidential run. “During the campaign,” The Atlantic Council reports, “Zelenskyy appointed Kolomoisky’s personal lawyer as a key adviser, traveled abroad to confer with the then-exiled Kolomoisky on multiple occasions, and benefited from the enthusiastic endorsement of Kolomoisky’s media empire. Unsurprisingly, many viewed Zelenskyy as Kolomoisky’s candidate.” 

Reuters calls Kolomoiskiy a former “sponsor” Zelensky’s, referring to the search in the same way as a “war-time anti-corruption purge.” Kolomoiskiy was connected to the gas company Burisma, in 2014. This is the company where Hunter Biden sat as a director after the Maidan Revolution. 

Hunter Biden’s contact at Burisma, Vadym Pozharskyi, to whom he introduced his then-VP father, was reported by the New York Post in 2020 to be connected to Kolomoiskiy. Since 2021, Kolomoiskiy is under US sanctions. In February 2021, Zelensky bypassed pandemic restrictions in Ukraine to attend a birthday bash for Kolomoiskiy.  

Under Zelensky’s leadership in Ukraine “government officials deemed a threat to Kolomoisky’s interests have been removed from their posts,” The Atlantic Council reports. These included Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka who was investigating Kolomoiskiy, as well as Zelensky’s first prime minister Oleksiy Honcharuk who was attempting to “loosen Kolomoisky’s control of a state-owned electricity company.” 

Kolomoiskiy previously held a stake in two of Ukraine’s biggest oil companies, Ukrnafta and refiner Ukrtatnafta. Zelensky took control of both companies under martial law in November. This after he had revoked Kolomoiskiy’s citizenship in July 2022, along with two other men. 

Kolomoiskiy has denied any involvement with Burisma, though Russian writer and investigator John Helmer “suggested that Zlochevsky and Pozharskyi were front men for Kolomoisky at Burisma,” The Post reported. Other sources Please indicate Despite the offshore financial fraud, the oligarch was linked to Burisma.

After Vice President Biden was introduced to Pozharskyi, he pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor that was allegedly investigating Burisma. Burisma was “described as a big shell company network of a classic British kind, with ownership and control completely obfuscated.'”

On Friday, Zelensky said “We are preparing new reforms in Ukraine. Reforms that will change the social, legal and political reality in many ways, making it more human, transparent and effective.” He didn’t give any details, but said they would be provided later.

Kolomoiskiy, According The Pandora Papers, which gave millions to companies that were close Zelensky or his associates.

Recent visits to the Zelensky government included top officials Fired amid allegations of corruption that alleged that the Ministry of Defense had purchased food for their troops at inflated prices, including eggs that were three times their normal cost. Others were fired because they used aid sent to them for personal use.

Officials from Ukraine were keen to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos. Discuss The nation had several ways it was handling corruption allegations and purging corrupt officials from its ranks. They said this was necessary to ensure that the west could continue to send more aid and cash into the country.

“The three men are among the wealthiest Jews in Ukraine, and the official reason for the move appears to be that they hold foreign citizenship — including in Israel,” The Times of Israel reported.

Zelensky’s critics claimed that Zelensky was trying make the appearance that he was being tough on corruption, so that the west would continue to fund the war-torn nation, despite continuing allegations of corruption within the government.

“The country will change during the war,” wrote parliamentary leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party David Arakhamia on Telegram. “If someone is not ready for change, then the state itself will come and help them change.”

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