A spokesman for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's Administration says that there will be no reaction to an investigation by journalists into the creation of offshore companies to transfer Roshen Corporation to a blind trust's management, according to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Ukrainian language service.
"There will be no reaction. If it had concerned Poroshenko personally, his activities – if it had been the way it involves [U.S. President Donald] Trump, who did not transfer assets to a blind trust – then it would. To react to someone's imagination ... I do not think it's the way it should be done," head of a department of the Presidential Administration's main information policy office Volodymyr Horkovenko told RFE/RL.
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According to Slidstvo.Info, in June 2014, after Poroshenko's inauguration, Avellum lawyers wrote the following letter to Appleby: "The matter is extremely sensitive. The client's name is Petr Poroshenko. We are working on restructuring of his confectionery business (Roshen). In order to obtain access to international markets, were going to establish a new holding company for the group in Luxembourg. Underneath will be a Dutch sub-holding, which will hold all operating companies. For tax purposes there will be a Cypriot entity on top of Luxco, which will be owned by offshore company (as I mentioned, BVI preferred but IoM could work as well)… it will hold the shares and receive dividends. Sale of shares at a certain moment is possible (provided there is an investor offering a good price)," the letter says. But Appleby's lawyers apparently decided that cooperation with Poroshenko's corporation would be an endeavor too risky for them, so they turned down the request of representatives of the Ukrainian president.