Russia nationalizes ex-Ukrainian president’s factory

A court has ruled in favor of nationalizing a candy factory owned by former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko in Lipetsk, western Russia. The property belonging to confectionary company Roshen has been under investigation for tax evasion and fraud since 2015.

Poroshenko was elected president of Ukraine in June 2014, and oversaw Kiev’s military operation against Russian-speaking secessionists in Donbass. In 2019, he lost a re-election bid to the current president, Vladimir Zelensky. The former leader also faces charges of high treason at home over alleged secret coal dealings with representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics during his time in office.  

He is currently a member of parliament and the leader of an opposition party called European Solidarity. 

On Monday, TASS quoted an unnamed Lipetsk court official as confirming that the “court had made a decision to transfer shares of ‘Lipetsk confectionary factory’ Inc. to the state.” The source added that Poroshenko and his son Aleksey had been banned from conducting any business activities on Russian soil. 

Last October, the chair of Crimea’s state council, Vladimir Konstantinov, revealed that all proceeds generated from the sale of an apartment on the peninsula owned by Ukrainian President Zelensky would go to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. The 119.5 square-meter property overlooking the Black Sea and the famous Livadia Palace was nationalized in March 2023, and was auctioned off for 44.3 million rubles ($480,989).

In December, Konstantinov revealed on his Telegram channel that regional authorities had nationalized approximately 1,150 properties belonging to 77 Ukrainian legal entities and individuals, “conducting subversive activities against Russia.”   

He added that the Crimean government was planning to continue expanding the list in the future.  

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