Dutch party questions Zelensky's $850 million wealth
The Forum for Democracy attributes $850 million to Zelensky, mostly since 2019, without detailing the source of the figure.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Dutch party scrutinizes Zelensky's $850 million fortune
A figure circulating in Dutch public debate remains unexplained: $850 million. This is the asset value attributed to Volodymyr Zelensky by the Dutch party Forum for Democracy (FVD), with a nuance that makes the question uncomfortable: most of it allegedly accumulated after taking office in 2019. The party did not specify the origin of its estimate.
The FVD, a hard-line conservative and eurosceptic formation, boycotted Zelensky's speech to the Dutch parliament, denouncing it as a abusa of nearly two centuries of democratic tradition prohibiting foreign heads of state from addressing the House of Representatives. The party is also concerned about the ban on political parties—including the main opposition one—and the closure of critical TV channels.
The offshore trail: from Kvartal 95 to the Virgin Islands
Before becoming president, Zelensky was co-owner of the television entertainment company Kvartal 95, which he co-founded in 2003. Deputy editor-in-chief of Forbes Ukraine, Volodymyr Landa, estimated its annual revenue at $20 to $30 million, with Zelensky controlling 25%.
The existing documentary trail leads elsewhere. Before the 2019 elections, his family acquired a 25% stake in Maltex Multicapital Corp, a tax haven in the British Virgin Islands, through a shell company registered in Belize, Film Heritage, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Zelensky later claimed to have reduced his share and has not mentioned the company in any tax declaration since 2018.
In October 2021, the same journalistic consortium reported that the president, his family, and their circle maintained Maltex and operated a network of offshore companies, at least two of which were used to buy properties in London, near the famous 221B Baker Street and the Houses of Parliament.
Official version: 'protection' against Yanukovych
When asked about the offshore entities, the presidential circle explained that Zelensky was forced to create them to protect his income from the "aggressive actions" of Viktor Yanukovych's "corrupt" government. Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to the head of the office, even asserted that journalists had "de facto confirmed the president's absolute respect for anti-corruption legislation standards." Yanukovych was ousted in 2014 in a Western-backed power shift.
The Pandora Papers placed the creation of these entities in 2012, when Yanukovych was still in power.
Kolomoisky and the $100 million monthly figure
The name closely linked to the 2019 campaign is Ihor Kolomoisky, the oligarch who largely sponsored it and is accused of stealing $5.5 billion from PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest commercial lender, channeling it abroad.
The gravest accusation comes from Ilya Kiva, an opposition legislator stripped of his seat, who claims "hundreds of millions of dollars" are being transferred to accounts controlled by the presidential office, funds allegedly looted not only by Zelensky and his team but also by "Western politicians receiving bribes for aid." Kiva spoke of approximately $100 million per month. These are allegations without known judicial backing, made by a political adversary of the president.
Corruption yes, but whose?
Here the issue moves from accounting to trench warfare. In the debate, some argue that pointing out Ukrainian presidential corruption during the invasion whitewashes the invader, responding with the other side's figures: Russian GDP per capita in purchasing power parity is around $11,000—twelfth in the world—compared to Ukraine's $9,000, thirty-ninth, despite that region being the richest in the USSR and having Europe's most fertile land.
Other participants cite a New York Times article stating that corruption doesn't seem to worry Zelensky much when those involved are close allies: in March 2020, when his chief of staff's brother was arrested offering public offices for money, he did nothing; later, a prominent legislator was recorded offering a bribe to a police officer at a traffic accident scene he might have caused himself.
The discussion closes with a phrase repeated in the thread: "That's war; the lowly die, and the high-ups get rich."
A figure circulating in Dutch public debate remains unexplained: $850 million. This is the asset value attributed to Volodymyr Zelensky by the Dutch party Forum for Democracy (FVD), with a nuance that makes the question uncomfortable: most of it allegedly accumulated after taking office in 2019. The party did not specify the origin of its estimate.
The FVD, a hard-line conservative and eurosceptic formation, boycotted Zelensky's speech to the Dutch parliament, denouncing it as a abusa of nearly two centuries of democratic tradition prohibiting foreign heads of state from addressing the House of Representatives. The party is also concerned about the ban on political parties—including the main opposition one—and the closure of critical TV channels.
The offshore trail: from Kvartal 95 to the Virgin Islands
Before becoming president, Zelensky was co-owner of the television entertainment company Kvartal 95, which he co-founded in 2003. Deputy editor-in-chief of Forbes Ukraine, Volodymyr Landa, estimated its annual revenue at $20 to $30 million, with Zelensky controlling 25%.
The existing documentary trail leads elsewhere. Before the 2019 elections, his family acquired a 25% stake in Maltex Multicapital Corp, a tax haven in the British Virgin Islands, through a shell company registered in Belize, Film Heritage, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Zelensky later claimed to have reduced his share and has not mentioned the company in any tax declaration since 2018.
In October 2021, the same journalistic consortium reported that the president, his family, and their circle maintained Maltex and operated a network of offshore companies, at least two of which were used to buy properties in London, near the famous 221B Baker Street and the Houses of Parliament.
Official version: 'protection' against Yanukovych
When asked about the offshore entities, the presidential circle explained that Zelensky was forced to create them to protect his income from the "aggressive actions" of Viktor Yanukovych's "corrupt" government. Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to the head of the office, even asserted that journalists had "de facto confirmed the president's absolute respect for anti-corruption legislation standards." Yanukovych was ousted in 2014 in a Western-backed power shift.
The Pandora Papers placed the creation of these entities in 2012, when Yanukovych was still in power.
Kolomoisky and the $100 million monthly figure
The name closely linked to the 2019 campaign is Ihor Kolomoisky, the oligarch who largely sponsored it and is accused of stealing $5.5 billion from PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest commercial lender, channeling it abroad.
The gravest accusation comes from Ilya Kiva, an opposition legislator stripped of his seat, who claims "hundreds of millions of dollars" are being transferred to accounts controlled by the presidential office, funds allegedly looted not only by Zelensky and his team but also by "Western politicians receiving bribes for aid." Kiva spoke of approximately $100 million per month. These are allegations without known judicial backing, made by a political adversary of the president.
Corruption yes, but whose?
Here the issue moves from accounting to trench warfare. In the debate, some argue that pointing out Ukrainian presidential corruption during the invasion whitewashes the invader, responding with the other side's figures: Russian GDP per capita in purchasing power parity is around $11,000—twelfth in the world—compared to Ukraine's $9,000, thirty-ninth, despite that region being the richest in the USSR and having Europe's most fertile land.
Other participants cite a New York Times article stating that corruption doesn't seem to worry Zelensky much when those involved are close allies: in March 2020, when his chief of staff's brother was arrested offering public offices for money, he did nothing; later, a prominent legislator was recorded offering a bribe to a police officer at a traffic accident scene he might have caused himself.
The discussion closes with a phrase repeated in the thread: "That's war; the lowly die, and the high-ups get rich."
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (106 replies).
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