In particular, in addition to purchase of TV channels NewsOne and 112 through Belarus for the total amount of 103 million UAH, Ukrainian MP pays 16 million UAH annually in Belarus in 2018 and in 2019 for air transportation services.
In 2019-2020, Kozak submitted in the declaration 1.2 million UAH of expenses for educational services in Belarus. It is difficult for us to imagine that MP pays someone to study at Belarusian universities worth one million UAH. Most likely that he simply uses Belarusian banks as transit to recalculate the cost of services to other companies in other countries, including Western Europe and Russia.
In February 2020, Kozak submitted in the declaration 422,000 UAH of expenses for vacation in Belarus, in June he rented real estate worth 1.1 million UAH, and in October he even paid 313,000 UAH of charitable assistance to someone in Belarus.
In Belarus he also constantly withdraws cash from banks and exchanges huge amounts of currency.
Thus, in August 2020, Kozak submitted in the declaration
expenses in Belarus in the amount of 163,667 UAH for the cash withdrawal commission. Usually banks charge from 1% to 2.9% from withdrawal amount, so the amount of withdrawn cash by Kozak in Belarus can range from 5 to 16 million UAH.
In September 2020, Kozak submitted in the declaration the
sale of currency in Belarus in the amount of more than 25 million UAH.
In 2018, the account in Minsk Transit Bank (JSC "MTBank") with savings in the amount of 2,160,297 million EUR appears in the declaration of Medvedchuk's colleague. And in 2019, Kozak entrusted preservation of another 6.5 million EUR to Belarusian Absolutbank. In the same Absolutbank have savings for considerable sums Victor Medvedchuk (850,000 EUR) and Oksana Marchenko (4 million EUR).
Why do Taras Kozak, Viktor Medvedchuk and Oksana Marchenko keep their savings in turbulent Belarus and feel more confident, reliable and safer there than in Ukraine?
We are looking for the answer in ownership structure of Minsk Absolutbank, where this trinity feels so comfortable and safe.
Absolutbank is fully controlled through Belarusian companies
Interservice LLC and Krasnyi Bor LLC by Belarusian oligarch Nikolay Vorobyov, who is
close to the President Lukashenko. In January 2019, Viktor Medvedchuk
had meeting with Oleksander Lukashenko, which allegedly discussed the situation in Donbass.
Nikolay Vorobey through the company Interservice
owns Belarusian Oil Bitumen Plant, which in 2019 became
co-owner of Ukrainian company
Prykarpatzahidtrans. And this is 1.1 thousand kilometers of
pipeline Samara-Western direction, through which oil products (mainly diesel fuel) are transported from Russia to the territory of Ukraine and transit through Hungary to countries of Western Europe.
Earlier in 2018, Nikolay Vorobey's Oil Bitumen Plant wanted to privatize state company Centerenergo. But the privatization was canceled.
It seems that Belarusian oligarch Nikolay Vorobey, in exchange for joint energy investment projects with Viktor Medvedchuk in Ukraine, has agreed to keep money of Kozak and Medvedchuk in his private wallet, namely Absolutbank, and to cover latter from the US and now Ukrainian sanctions.
The rhetorical question remains whether Nikolay Vorobey can join such projects and work as banker for Taras Kozak and Viktor Medvedchuk without will and political cover of Oleksander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin.