No contacts between President’s Office and oligarch Kolomoisky, says NV source
Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky (Photo:epravda.com.ua)
Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky does not communicate with any of the top officials of the President’s Office, or its employees, a source in the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NV on Nov. 19.
However, the representative of the authorities dodged the question when asked whether the billionaire is still a citizen of Ukraine.
According to this source, none of the top government officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Head of the Office Andriy Yermak, his deputies and adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, or presidential aide Serhiy Shefir, maintain any contact with the oligarch.
At the same time, the source said they didn’t know whether any top officials of the Cabinet of Ministers or the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, were in touch with Kolomoisky.
"The president last saw (Kolomoisky] two years ago or more. (Chief of Staff Andriy) Yermak too," the source said.
At the same time, the source said Kolomoisky's business partner Timur Mindich was still in contact with government officials.
Despite the fact that Kolomoisky has not been in personal contact with the authorities for a long time, he is actively defending his interests in the lawsuits related to the nationalized bank PrivatBank, which he used to own.
Asked about the alleged deprivation of the Ukrainian citizenship of the billionaire, the source said that as long as a citizen of Ukraine who has dual citizenship (or more) has not used a second passport in Ukraine, then formally, passive dual citizenship is not considered a violation.
In late October, Golos MP and Deputy Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee Yaroslav Yurchyshyn confirmed the authenticity of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decree on the removal of citizenship of Ihor Kolomoisky, Hennadiy Korban, Vadym Rabinovich, and several other people, referring to the response to his request to the Prosecutor General's Office.
However, the lawmaker clarified that he did not specify Kolomoisky's name in the request.
Kolomoisky himself, in a comment to Bihus.Info, dismissed the news about his being stripped of Ukrainian citizenship as "nonsense."
On July 21, MP Serhiy Vlasenko published on Facebook an alleged copy of a presidential decree depriving 10 people of Ukrainian citizenship.
According to the document, the list includes Servant of the People MP Ihor Vasylkivskyi, businessman Hennadiy Korban, representative of the banned Opposition Platform faction Vadym Rabinovich and businessman Ihor Kolomoisky. The decree was dated July 18.
On July 22, Korban was not allowed to enter Ukraine after a trip to Europe, and border guards confiscated his passport. Korban's lawyer said his client was denied entry as a "stateless person."
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