Poroshenko to Sell Main Assets But Not TV Station
Poroshenko to Sell Main Assets But Not TV Station
Once Petro Poroshenko takes up the post of Ukrainian president, he will sell his principal business, the Roshen Corporation, but not Channel 5 TV.
Poroshenko made the announcement on Monday [May 26] at a press conference which he and Vitali Klitschko conducted jointly at their campaign headquarters.
Asked whether as president he would be prepared to sell or transfer ownership of his business, Poroshenko said that during his political career he had “introduced a number of customs to Ukrainian politics”.
“When you were still working at Channel 5, we introduced a custom that owners and journalists should agree the foundations for editorial policy,” he told the reporter. “In 2005, my team were the first to make a declaration of assets, which I then transferred to be managed by a transparent international asset management firm.”
“Now a new custom is to be established. When people enter high office, they must make resolute efforts to show not just this country but the whole world that they are divesting themselves of and selling their businesses, and focusing all their efforts and time on serving the nation. I plan to do just that,” Poroshenko said.
He said “instructions have been issued to select an investment consultant, an investment bank that will from today make intensive preparations to sell my principal assets.”
He continued, “There is one thing – something I also accentuated during campaigning – Channel 5, an asset I won, will not be sold. First, this is because Channel 5 has never been sold and never will be. And second, I believe the role that the free press played during the Orange Revolution and during our 2014 revolution on the Maidan is of exceptional importance.
“Channel 5 has traditionally been more critical of me, on occasion, than any other [station].”
“It is a fact that we plan to introduce a new custom, and just as I have promised, I will set about selling my assets once I become president."
This article republished from Ukrainska Pravda with kind permission.
