Ukrainian Leader Defends Offshore Assets Amid Panama Leak

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his advisers defended the management of his business assets through an offshore holding company created with the help of the Panama-based law firm at the center of a global tax-evasion leak.

Poroshenko said Monday on Twitter that he hasn’t managed the assets, including confectionery company Roshen, since becoming president in 2014, handing the duties to consulting and law firms. His legal adviser, Kiev-based Avellum, called tax-evasion allegations unfounded, saying Roshen met all its Ukrainian tax obligations. Transferring the assets to the holding company in the British Virgin Islands was a necessary step in moving them into a blind trust, Avellum said.