Media: Manafort received $17 million from Party of Regions in Ukraine
Former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump Paul Manafort received $17 million from the Ukrainian Party of Regions in 2012-2013.
The BBC reported that Manafort received money for work for the Party of Regions, of which former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was a member. This was revealed from documents that he filed with the U.S. Justice Department under the law on the registration of foreign agents.
The consulting firm of Trump’s ex-campaign manager had to register as a foreign agent because of work for the Ukrainian party.
According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), U.S. citizens and legal entities are required to register as foreign agents if they work in the interests of foreign governments. Refusal to register may result in prosecution.
From the completed form which Manafort submitted to the Ministry of Justice, it can be seen that in 2012-2013, his firm wrote a pre-election program for the Party of Regions, implemented an election campaign strategy, developed a party platform and conducted international observation of the elections. The deal was concluded with the acting chairman of the Party of Regions Volodymyr Rybak, who was Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from 2012 to 2014.
In the application submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the purpose of Manafort's work for the Party of Regions in 2013-2014 is described as “decentralization of power with the transfer of maximum powers to the regions, the construction of a Western-style political party, and making Ukraine more attractive for investment in the region.”
The company received $17 million from the Party of Regions. For consultant work, interviewing agencies and other services, Manafort spent more than $4 million, including $2.1 million on travel expenses.
Manafort was forced to resign as Trump’s campaign manager in August 2016 against the backdrop of the scandal that erupted after publication in the New York Times. This was based on the news that Manafort received almost $13 million in cash from the Party of Regions.
Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Nazar Kholodnitskiy said in early June that the investigation into the “black books” of the Party of Regions has no connection to Manafort.