Full disclosure: In the last two years, the International Renaissance Foundation has underwritten $40,000 of the Kyiv Post’s Reform Watch coverage, so obviously we have a conflict of interest here with a donor that has helped Ukraine’s civil society and journalism to develop.
However, the statement makes an odd concoction of “the journalists’ syndrome of ‘the right to hold the absolute truth’” and draws other unsupported conclusions. No one is claiming any such right.
It’s a shame that criticism of the journalists outweighed the revelation that the president set up a company that could be a vehicle for tax avoidance or evasion.
Investigations are being launched around the world because of the 11 million documents leaked from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.Taken together, the documents show that avoiding taxes is rampant among the world’s wealthy and powerful individuals.
British Prime Minister David Cameron disclosed six years of tax returns and other investigations have been launched to examine the United Kingdom’s role in promoting global tax evasion. But no such transparency or credible investigations are gaining traction in Ukraine, where Poroshenko continues to dodge tough questions and where releasing credible personal or business tax returns remains unthinkable.
The response is shameful. In a nation that may lose up to 10 percent of its gross domestic product annually (up to $11.6 billion) to tax evasion, critics instead choose to shoot the messengers. Independent journalism, unfortunately, is often unappreciated until it is gone.
