The president's family has appointed the sister of the head of the Ukrainian Audit Office to lead a Cyprus-based offshore company.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s family has placed Svitalna Piscienszka, the sister of the head of the Ukrainian Audit Office, at the helm of Aldorante Limited, an offshore company based in Cyprus, as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency, citing documents from the Cypriot and Italian registries.

According to these records, Svitalna Piscienszka became the director of the offshore Aldorante Limited on 19 June, 2024.

It turned out that she is the sister of Olga Piscienszka, who took over as the head of the Ukrainian Auditing Chamber in January. At that time, Irina Herascshenko, a member of parliament, disclosed that the president’s friend and neighbour from Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown, is involved in this network, the international V4NA news agency writes.

In January, it was noted that Ukrainian MP Geo Leros accused President Zelensky of embezzling state funds. It has come to light that the Ukrainian president and his associates have funneled approximately $40 million into various offshore companies through businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi since 2012. Moreover, in 2014, Mr. Zelensky failed to pay taxes while purchasing property abroad with funds sourced from the state budget, Mr. Leros stressed.

During his presidential campaign, Mr.Zelensky pledged to cleanse Ukraine’s economic and social system dominated by oligarchs. His campaign targeted politicians like wealthy former President Petro Poroshenko, who often hide their offshore wealth. His message resonated, and Zelensky secured 73 percent of the votes. However, it appears that little has changed in Ukraine. The Pandora Papers, leaked by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and shared with the Guardian as part of a global investigation, suggest that Mr. Zelensky bears a closer resemblance to his oligarch predecessors than to the clean-handed history teacher he once portrayed himself as.