Translated by Ollie Richardson & Angelina Siard

16:09:32
19/01/2018

sharij.net

The “Schemes” project of “Radio Svoboda” and the “UA:Pershiy” channel published the data of a journalistic investigation in which the approximate cost of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko’s New Year’s holiday was calculated.

As the journalists of the project learnt, on January 8th a private Falcon 7X plane took off from the Malé airport in the Maldives. According to the data of FlightRadar, a plane with the codename TC-KMR crossed the Indian Ocean. According to journalists, Poroshenko was onboard.

When the plane landed at the Kiev-Zhuliany airport, it approached a remote part of the airport far from the terminals that passengers of private planes usually use. Four minutes after the plane stopped, a convoy of four Volkswagen minibuses and one representative Mercedes left the gate and left the territory of the airport. These cars proceeded to Poroshenko’s residence.

Journalists of the project learned that this plane took off for the Maldives on January 1st, and is leased by the Turkish airline Setair. Having contacted the airline for a quote for such a flight from Kiev, taking into account the 7-day wait at the Malé airport, journalists learned that the cost of the flight, taking into account the waiting for the plane, will total €154,000, and should the plane be returned within 7 days – €119,000.

Poroshenko used option with expectation of the plane at the Male airport. Possibly, it was made that passengers had opportunity urgently to return to Ukraine. Thus, the possible cost of flight of Poroshenko could make 154,000 euros.

The authors of the program managed to learn from their own sources that 3 men and 5 women boarded this flight to the Maldives and back, while among them there was nobody with the surname Poroshenko. On the flight the following persons were registered: Vera Lazarieva, Ivan Dekhteriev, Evgeniya Safonova, Aleksandr Syshchykov, Kateryna Boieva, Vitaly Kokorin, Elena Senchenko, Olga Gerasymenko.

“Schemes” made an inquiry to the State Border Service about whether or not Poroshenko passed through passport control in the Kiev-Zhuliany airport during the period from January 1st to January 8th, but at the time the material was published the department didn’t provide an answer.

According to the journalists of the project with reference to their own sources, Poroshenko had a holiday from January 2nd to January 8th in the Cheval Blanc five-star hotel, consisting of private villas. He occupied the so-called “private island” or “Owner’s villa” located in the distant part of the resort complex. The villa was inhabited by a group of 8 adults and two children.

According to “Schemes”, Poroshenko appeared in the resort under the name of “Mr. Petro Incognito (Ukraine)”, and the cost of renting the private island was no less than $46,000 per day. Thus, for 6 days Poroshenko could spend no less than $276,000 on accommodation.

As the authors of the investigation discovered, during the holiday $10,791 was spent on aquatics, diving, and boats, $18,705 on breakfasts, $4,118 on lunches, and $3,165 on dinners. Additional expenses were only $37,550 – paid in cash.

Proceeding from this data, the cost of Poroshenko’s holiday could have cost no less than $501,550, $188,000 of which was the cost of the flight, $276,000 – renting the villa, and $37,550 – additional expenses.

Poroshenko’s press service admitted that a holiday in the Maldives took place, and explained that that he did it “for a short rest”.

“He paid for this trip independently from his own account of declared funds, which will be displayed in his electronic declaration,” declared the press service of the President.

According to the information on the website “My Private Villas”, in the “Owner’s Villa” there are 4 bedrooms, it is designed for 8 people, and the area of the island is 8,000 square meters. The price of renting the villa is available on request.

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