Gas, corruption and two Biden: how Ukraine became a victim of a family contract

Recently, another newly minted presidential candidate, Biden was involved in a huge scandal, the consequences of which could end the political career of “Old Joe.” Recently, the American newspaper the Hill has published a number of papers on controversial activities policy in Ukraine. In one of the articles he was accused of that in 2016 he blackmailed Petro Poroshenko. Joe Biden threatened to deprive Ukraine of the next tranche from the IMF in the amount of one billion dollars. US if the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin will not be dismissed. The American official explained his unprecedented and brazen claim that Shokin had not enough to actively fight corruption.

However, the author of the article, journalist John Solomon has opposite information. In an interview with the former attorney General stated that the reason for dismissal was the request of Biden to stop criminal case in Ukraine against the company, Burisma. It is engaged in the production of hydrocarbons in two major oil and gas basins of the country – the Carpathian and Dnieper-Donets. The market share of the operating companies included in the Group Burisma, the market for oil and gas industry of Ukraine is over 25%.

What has caused such concern in American politics with the fate of this company? And it’s simple: “by coincidence” may 12, 2014 Board member is holding Burisma hunter Biden, the son of Joseph Biden. Interesting fact: shortly after this, October 17, 2014, hunter was removed from the reserve of the U.S. Navy for cocaine use.

Information about Hunter Biden on the Burisma website of the company

John Solomon talks about the direct interest of Biden in the business development of his son. Bank records in the United States show that the American company hunter Biden Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC received from Burisma regular transfers to one of their accounts — usually more than 166 thousand dollars per month in the period from spring 2014 to fall 2015 (in total more than three million dollars). At this time Joe Biden was the Vice President of the United States and was in charge of Ukraine.

In addition to Biden, Jr. to the Board of Directors of the company Burisma includes former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski and former head of the counterterrorism center of the CIA Joseph Cofer black. The main shareholder of the company was former Minister of ecology of Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovych Mykola Zlochevsky. He made the decisions on who to grant access to Ukrainian mineral resources for mining. After the change of power in Ukraine in February 2014, Zlochevsky fled the country. Against him were filed several criminal proceedings, and Burisma successfully continued to develop Ukrainian subsoil.

Financial report of the firm of Biden, Jr. on the receipt of funds from the account of the Ukrainian Burisma holding

Fired Shokin had a large amount of incriminating evidence about the gas company and the Biden Jr. that he, in all likelihood, paid. The case against Burisma was later transferred to the National anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine, which already at that time was tightly controlled by Washington. On the eve of the recent visit of Joe Biden in Kiev on January 16, 2017 all, the investigation was buried.

Some time later, Yuriy Lutsenko, who succeeded Shokin for post of Prosecutor General, has launched a new investigation and, apparently, very good at capturing incriminating data. Taking into account the experience of its predecessor, the new attorney-General conducted the case without unnecessary publicity, store materials and put daddy in the safe, waiting for a convenient moment.

The time has come. Lutsenko realized that the presidency of Poroshenko coming to an end, and with it the political scrap may leave and his entourage. Many supporters of the President have changed camp, and now the team Zelensky did not hesitate to vilify his former patron.

But the attorney General – he’s not. He decided to start his own game and bet on the Americans. Specifically for somebody that Poroshenko is trying to put into power in 2016, Donald trump. Before Lutsenko has said on the investigation of the intervention of Ukraine in the American elections, then attacked the appointee of the Democrats, Marie Yovanovitch, and now Joe Biden.

If Lutsenko will be useful to the White house in its fight with competitors in the elections of 2020, it will probably allow him to keep any public office in Ukraine or even open up new perspectives at the international level.

Unfortunately, whatever were the results of these intrigues, it is highly unlikely that the “laundered” by the Biden family money back in the budget of Ukraine.

Author: Valery Gonchar, the IAP “Commonwealth”, especially for “Military and political review”.

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