The annual income gains of Petro Poroshenko, who is currently fighting for a second presidential term in Ukraine, saw a nearly hundredfold surge in 2018, the president’s tax documents reveal.
According to the Ukrainian unified register of asset and income declarations, Poroshenko’s fortune totaled 1.56 billion hryvnia (US$57 million) over 12 months through March 31, which is 95 times as much as he reported in the same period a year ago. In 2017, Poroshenko’s gains reportedly reached 16.3 million hryvnia ($600,000).
Most of Poroshenko’s income – around $40.4 million – reportedly comes from return on investment in Zurich-based Rothschild Trust Schweiz, a trust subsidiary of Rothschild Bank AG. The Ukrainian president also earned $14.7 million in profit from the Prime Assets Capital investment fund, while returns on domestic government loan bonds amounted to nearly a million dollars.
Poroshenko reportedly received around $30,000 from property sales, with more than $14,000 reportedly received from his wife Marina Poroshenko. Meanwhile, his official paycheck totals $12,400.
The average monthly salary in Ukraine in September 2018 was 9,042 hryvnia (about $320), according to the country’s State Statistics Service.
According to the tax filings, the president owns a residential house with an area of more than 1,330 square meters in Kozyn, Kiev Region, along with three land plots in the same village with a total land area of about 42,000 square meters. Poroshenko also has three properties with a total land area of more than 12,000 square meters and two apartments in Kiev. Another apartment belonging to the president is located in the city of Vinnytsia, while Poroshenko’s wife owns a flat in Kiev, and a land plot and a garden house in Boryspil district in Kiev Region.
Poroshenko is currently trying to scratch out a win in Ukraine’s presidential election against showman Volodymyr Zelensky, who is reportedly leading the race with 30.4 percent of the vote. According to official exit poll data, Poroshenko is second with 17.8 percent, while veteran Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko is third spot with 14.2 percent.
As no candidate received an absolute majority, the Ukrainian Central Election Commission is set to hold the second round on April 21.
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