MP with business in Crimea found in Verkhovna Rada

The MP was at the center of the story because of his ties to assets on the temporarily occupied peninsula and questionable foreign travels during the war. Investigators have found that business in Crimea continues to make profits and interact with the Russian system while the politician himself remains in office.

This is stated in the investigation of the Schemes project.

On the day of the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, a parliamentary camera recorded MPs in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada, among whom Vitaliy Bort stood out not for his political activity but for his noticeable tan after a stay abroad.

As the project's journalists found out, the MP repeatedly visited the United States during the full-scale war, in particular Miami, where he owns real estate and his family lives. He made some of these trips under the guise of business trips, sometimes not following the declared routes and actually spending time on vacation.

At the same time, Bortmissed some plenary sessions of the parliament and committee meetings that coincided with his stay abroad. According to the investigation, even after the criminal proceedings were opened regarding possible abuse of travel, the trips continued.

In addition, the journalists found that the MP's family has a business in the occupied territories - in Crimea and in part of Zaporizhzhia region. These businesses have been re-registered under Russian law, continue to operate and pay taxes to the Russian budget worth millions of rubles.

The MP was also found to have ties to companies that receive multibillion-dollar government contracts in Ukraine, in particular under the Big Construction program. According to the investigation, after his election to parliament in 2019, the volume of such contracts increased significantly.

Despite the public facts that cause a public outcry - from foreign trips during the war to business ties in the occupied territories - Vitaliy Bort remains a current member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Also, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko and his deputies were found to have family ties to Russia and occupied Crimea. Journalists found out that the officials' relatives have Russian citizenship, business and documents related to the territories under Russian control.

Анна Бальчінос