Ukrainians keep billions of dollars in offshore accounts
According to international research organizations, the amount of Ukrainian money invested or kept off shore ranges from $117 billion to $167 billion. Doctor of Economic Sciences Sergey Korablin reports in the Ukrainian edition Zerkalo Nedeli that the total is equal to approximately double the country’s gross domestic product.
Annual losses of Ukraine from offshore operations amounted to $11 billion to $12 billion. That is equal to the loans that were provided to the country through the two last IMF programs. Meanwhile, fixed capital investments in 2014 averaged $800 per employee per year.
According to Korablin, this is much closer to the level of the poorest countries in the world—about $370—than it is to economies with medium incomes where this rate is approximately four times higher—$3000.
Russian news agency TASS noted that the President of Ukraine was mentioned in the “Panama Papers” incident for owning three off-shore companies designed for restructuring the assets of his confectionary business, Roshen. After the publication of these documents, Poroshenko’s financial advisors reported that Roshen is not managed by him and that the assets were transferred into trust.