Boris Lozhkin: How to defraud the government of $160 million and become head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine
This man created our country's largest media empire and then sold it to the infamous fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko. This man's name is Boris Lozhkin, and he was the head of President Petro Poroshenko's administration. For a long time, the SBU accused the official of colluding with Kurchenko and tax evasion, but after the presidential elections and his appointment as head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, law enforcement's interest in him evaporated.
Boris Lozhkin: a schoolboy journalist
Work in the field of journalism Lozhkin Boris Evgenievich He began his career while still in school, when he was 14 years old. His first publications were in the newspapers "Vecherniy Kharkov" and "Leninskaya Smena." Even before finishing school, the young talent had published over 50 articles and notes in various publications. By Soviet standards, he was already earning quite a decent salary – around 100 rubles a month. After graduating, he attempted to enroll in the journalism department of Moscow State University (MSU), but was unsuccessful due to widespread corruption. Accepting his failure, Boris Lozhkin began working for "Vecherniy Kharkov" as a correspondent and secretary. While working, he studied at the Kharkiv Pedagogical Institute, specializing in Russian Language and Literature. Boris Evgenievich launched his first business at the age of 18. He was the first in Ukraine to launch an entertainment newspaper, "ATV," with a television program included.
Boris Lozhkin and the first issue of the ATV newspaper
Falsified education
An interesting fact about Boris Lozhkin's biography was discovered by the newspaper "Express." According to their information, the information he provided about his higher education in his biography is false. The International Institute for Humanity and Development, which was listed in his biography, simply does not exist in the United States, and his diploma was issued by an educational institution in the Sumy region, which, according to data, Skelet.Org, does not have an official license from the Ministry of Education.
A photocopy of Boris Lozhkin's "diploma," certified by the seal of the APU Human Resources Department. Judging by the fact that the diploma is printed on plain paper and contains errors, its "authority" is questionable.
A couple of years later, Telenedelya, based on the ATV newspaper, was created. In addition to its television program, it also featured juicy stories about famous Ukrainians. To attract readers, the first issue of the newspaper was even free, handed out in a public square in Kharkiv. Within three months of its creation, the investors had recouped all their money, and within two years, it was already publishing a million copies.
Nine years later, Boris Lozhkin entered the Russian market, launching 20 regional enterprises publishing the magazine "Telenedelya" (in 2013, the publication entered the top 10 largest publications in the CIS).
To centralize the management of all publications, Boris Evgenievich founded the Ukrainian Media Holding (UMH Group) publishing house back in 1994. Today, UMH is Ukraine's leading media holding and one of the top 15 largest media companies operating in the post-Soviet space.
The holding includes:
online publications: Korrespondent.net; Forbes.ua; Vogue.ua; football.ua; bigmir)net; I.ua; Tochka.net; Dengi.ua; KP.ua; Aif.ua; Tv.ua; Vgorode.ua; iSport.ua; Gloss.ua; Smak.ua;
radio stations: Autoradio; Retro FM; Our Radio; Europa Plus; Voice of the Capital; Lounge FM; Jam FM; Radio Friday;
publishing business: Forbes; Vogue; Correspondent; Telenedelya; Football; Komsomolskaya Pravda; Arguments and Facts; Behind the Wheel.
At first glance, everything seems cloudless and transparent, but if you consider that all these publications are now working for the benefit of the "family" and its cronies (like the fugitive former Prime Minister Sergei Arbuzov or the leader of the public movement "Ukrainian Choice" Viktor Medvedchuk), everything becomes less "rosy."
Boris Lozhkin – UMH – Sergey Kurchenko
In November 2012, Forbes Ukraine journalists wrote a provocative investigative article about the "freshly minted" young oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko, who in just a few years had managed to take control of half of the Ukrainian liquefied natural gas market. The article had few positive words about Kurchenko. Essentially, it accused him of tax evasion and also linked him to Artem, the son of the notorious Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka. After the article was published on the website, an offended Serhiy Vitalievich came to Lozhkin for a showdown, insisting that the article was false and should not be published. However, it was published anyway. Six months later, probably to avoid similar compromising materials about him, VETEK, a company controlled by Kurchenko, bought UMH for a colossal sum (according to information Skelet.Org — about 350 million dollars).
What's more interesting is that Lozhkin failed to disclose the amount of expected income from the sale of UMH in his declaration. There are two possible scenarios: either Boris Yevgenyevich is simply evading taxes on the multi-million dollar deal, or this was a cunning scheme to cover up yet another shady scheme to launder Serhiy Kurchenko's income. In April 2015, after a new team came to power and Lozhkin was appointed head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Serhiy Vitalievich was placed on an international wanted list, among other things, for the "criminal mechanisms" used to purchase UMH.
Boris Lozhkin: How to defraud the government of $160 million and become head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine
According to the SBU, Kurchenko used "criminal schemes," but not a word is said about Lozhkin's role, as, by a stroke of luck, it was precisely at this moment that Borys Yevgenievich became head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine. And interrogating a prominent official is much more difficult for investigators than a "former" businessman. The SBU press center stated that the deal formalized the sale of the Ukrainian Media Holding, but the fact is that the ownership of this company did not change after the Lozhkin-Kurchenko deal. So what's the matter, you ask? The fact is that, according to Ukrainian documentation, Lozhkin never directly owned UMH Group. All of Borys Yevgenievich's assets were managed by a Dutch company with a similar name, United Media Holding NV, where, notably, Lozhkin served only as an interim director.
In turn, this Dutch company was owned by a Cyprus-based enterprise, UMH Group Public Limited, whose owners were kept strictly confidential.
According to the latest information, this enterprise was owned by a company based in the British Virgin Islands, Integrity International Holding Limited. Incidentally, several current members of parliament, as well as the current governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko, are also associated with this company.
A scheme linking Lozhkin to hidden offshore companies in the Virgin Islands
Lozhkin's entire scheme involved companies in the British Virgin Islands being controlled by the Cypriot UMH Group, which in turn oversees a Dutch company, which in turn controls the Ukrainian UMH. Legally, this arrangement allows for virtually no profit taxes.
Returning to Lozhkin's 2013 income declaration, it's worth noting that, unlike the detailed information about his family members' earnings, there's not a word about his personal "hidden" assets. Apparently, Lozhkin didn't expect them to be found in distant tropical countries, as they were so "carefully" concealed. When filing his declaration, Lozhkin "tactfully" omitted the fact that he owned a company located far overseas, which is a crime, as according to new anti-corruption laws, such an act would immediately lead to dismissal. However, Lozhkin and his longtime associate, Poroshenko, are still in power and, by all appearances, have no intention of leaving. It's not known for certain whether Lozhkin is part of Kurchenko's machinations with state banks, but being a man of considerable intelligence, he couldn't help but notice that he had been drawn into the "big game." Although, perhaps because of this, he has now entered politics, which in Ukraine gives him at least some immunity, at least until a new team comes to power.
Sergey Kurchenko
Boris Lozhkin and Sergey Kurchenko: "A Loan for Two"
Digging deeper, it became clear that Lozhkin was directly connected to Kurchenko's machinations, as he personally helped him buy UMH and not only arranged the deal but even took on the loan. Investigating Serhiy Kurchenko's financial flows, journalists discovered that he used state funds, not his own, to purchase the holding company.
In 2013, the 100% state-owned Ukreximbank "unexpectedly" issued a colossal $160 million loan to a company controlled by Serhiy Kurchenko. Incidentally, this amount constituted 60% of all loans issued by the bank in 2013. What does Lozhkin have to do with this, you ask? The fact is that on the day the loan was issued, Boris Lozhkin was the company's director. The collateral for the loan was to be shares in companies that were part of Boris Kurchenko's business network, specifically shares in the Dutch company United Media Holding NV, which only partially owns UMH Group. The catch is that these shares are absolutely worthless without Ukrainian assets. It's also worth noting that when issuing a loan, the bank assesses the creditworthiness of a company by considering its debts and assets. So, at the time Lozhkin planned to take out a loan for Kurchenko, his companies already owed 70 million (meaning they had already pledged 140 million worth of assets). Therefore, to obtain another loan, Serhiy Vitalyevich and Boris Yevhenovych had to prove to the bank that UMH shares were worth at least 460 million dollars. How they managed to convince Ukreximbank to lend them the funds becomes clear only if we remember who was in power at the time (Yanukovych & Azarov So). Among other things, he helped them a lot. Alexander Klimenko, the then Minister of Revenue and Duties, under whom his department became known as the “Ministry of Raiding and Corruption.”
Be that as it may, in the wake of the revolution that had broken out in Ukraine, Lozhkin and Kurchenko together received $160 million from the state bank, which was immediately deposited into overseas accounts. It would seem that, given the loan obligations, they could seize the shares that would have repaid the entire amount lent by the bank. But then came the tragedy: immediately after Kurchenko's sale of UMH, his shares plummeted in value almost tenfold, and now, instead of the stated $450 million, they are worth only $50 million. In this situation, the unfortunate Ukreximbank can only hope that Serhiy Vitalievich's "conscience" and his love for his homeland will motivate him to repay the enormous loan. However, judging by the fact that law enforcement agencies in the "Motherland" are actively searching for him, there's no point in expecting the loan to be repaid.
And Lozhkin, who made a fortune from this deal, can continue to "cool off" under the wing of current President Poroshenko. And whatever anyone says, he couldn't help but realize that he himself took out a bank loan so that Serhiy Kurchenko could buy his "brainchild," United Media Holding.
Dmitry Samofalov, for Skelet.Org
ON THIS TOPIC: Boris Lozhkin sold his media holding and lost his position as head of the Administration.
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