Zelenskiy Reportedly Gave Up His Production Studio Share for Presidential Term Period

Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy has transferred his stake in Kvartal 95 production company to his business partners. They promised to return his stake after his presidential term - in 5 years.

This was stated by Zelenskiy’s Kvartal 95 business partner Serhiy Shefir in an interview to The Babel news site.

“He went out [from business]. There is one or two signatures left. He gave his share to somebody. Perhaps to me, perhaps to Borys (Shefir, Serhiy's brother and business partner, -ed.), I do not remember. This is not so important, because neither me, nor Borys will substitute or fail him,” Shefir said.

Shefir explained there has been an agreement that the Shefir brothers would return Zelenskiy’s shares to him once he completes his presidential term. Previously Zelenskiy stated that he will only serve one term and is not planning to rerun come 2024.

The businessman also noted that despite Zelenskiy’s withdrawal from Kvartal 95 management, he would still receive dividends from the company’s profits. Zelenskiy will also remain to be the legal owner of some of the brands.

This is not the first time Zelenskiy – a former comedian, actor and businessman – had to give away business shares to his partners in bid for presidency. In January, investigative journalists from the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Schemes program uncovered that some of Zelenskiy’s business ties led to Russia. A company “Green Films”, in which Zelenskiy is one of the ultimate beneficiaries, reportedly received state funding from the Russian government. Two months after the news broke, journalists from the same organization noted that Zelenskiy seemed to give away his stake to another Kvartal 95 partner, Andriy Yakovlev.

READ MORE: Investigation Uncovers Presidential Candidate Zelenskiy’s Businesses in Russia

Zelenskiy announced that he would be leaving business on April 19, before the second round of the presidential election.