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reached agreements with Hladkovskiy associates, Vitaliy Zhukov and Andriy Rohoza.
These associates also sent texts to the junior Hladkovskiy in order to request that his father resolve contracts, or address these matters with the directors of Ukrainian factories. More than UAH250mn ($9mn) in profit was earned through three shell companies, including one directly owned by Poroshenko at the time, the report alleged. In one text exchange, Rohoza alleged UAH500mn was earned. Another mentioned scheme was reselling parts to the Ukrainian military that were designated for disposal.
"Profit on blood"
The same day, Zelenskiy wrote on his Facebook page that "the people who came to power on blood are making profit on blood". "Now I understand what the 'Army, Language, and Faith' slogan means: robbing the army and artificially dividing the people by language, and therefore there is no faith in you," Zelenskiy added.
Poroshenko has adopted the 'Army, Language, and Faith' slogan during his presidential campaign. The presidential election will take place on March 31.
According to latest surveys, Zelenskiy’s presidential candidacy rating is growing . Specifically, according to the latest poll results published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), among decided voters, Zelenskiy has 26.9% support, compared to 17.7% for President Poroshenko and 15.8% for ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko, according to the poll conducted between January 31 and February 10 of 2,007 respondents.
Zelenskiy would earn 39.6% of votes in the second-round runoff, compared to 18.1% for Poroshenko (a 21.5% gap), according to the poll. Tymoshenko would earn 27.0%, compared to 18.9% for Poroshenko (an 8.1% gap).
Zelenskiy, a close associate of controversial Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, was officially registered as a presidential candidate by the CEC on January 30. The comedian was nominated by his newly-created party the Servant of the People.
Poroshenko's reaction
Meanwhile, Poroshenko has demanded Ukrainian law enforcements to check information reported by the Nashi Groshi programme and said he supports the temporary removal of First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) Oleh Hladkovskiy.
"The President [...] supported the removal of Oleh Hladkovskiy from his duties during the investigation. Poroshenko demands that law enforcement agencies urgently check the information provided in Nashi Groshi's investigation to refute or confirm the report's findings," Interfax news agency quoted the president's spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko on February 25.
Zenon Zawada at Kyiv-based brokerage Concorde Capital believes that the scandal has the potential to boost the support for Tymoshenko and Zelenskiy at Poroshenko’s expense.
16 UKRAINE Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com