Support Us

Kyiv construction company director leaves Ukraine with disability certificate, then conquers Everest

Wednesday, 5 July 2023, 15:31
Kyiv construction company director leaves Ukraine with disability certificate, then conquers Everest

Ihor Kushnir, the head of the 80% local government-owned Kyivmiskbud construction corporation, left Ukraine with a disability certificate, yet he conquered Mount Everest in May 2023.

Source: bihus.info, a Ukrainian investigative project, citing its own sources

Quote: "Ihor Kushnir, the president of Kyivmiskbud, and his wife Oksana climbed Mount Everest in May this year... How the official managed to leave [Ukraine – ed.] for health reasons and conquer a peak like that, which isn’t easy even for trained healthy people, is a mystery."

Advertisement:

Details: It is noted that Kushnir travelled abroad with a disability certificate [permitting him to leave Ukraine during martial law].

In addition, the couple's climb up Mount Everest cost them US$150,000.

Update: After this article was published, representatives of Kushnir's press service contacted Ukrainska Pravda and confirmed his disabled status.

Advertisement:

Quote: "Kushnir does indeed have a category 3 disability because he has been fighting cancer (melanoma) since 2005, which by law puts him in the third category of disability and entitles him to regular check-ups, including some performed outside Ukraine. He has had a number of operations to remove metastases in various organs and to remove the internal organs themselves.

He is also an experienced mountaineer who has climbed two eight-thousanders and seven seven-thousanders.

Conquering Everest was Kushnir's dream, which he managed to fulfil only this year. He and his wife raised the flag of Ukraine at the world's highest peak."

For reference: Kushnir has been the president of Kyivmiskbud for more than 10 years. Bihus.info noted that the company is 80% owned by the city of Kyiv. Early in 2023, the company suspended construction work and requested additional funding from the budget.

Background:

  • Journalists discovered a luxury villa on the Côte d'Azur registered in the name of a French company, which was purchased three years ago by a company owned by Kushnir's wife. Kushnir responded by saying that he had no property outside Ukraine.
  • Earlier, journalists discovered that Kushnir's business associates and relatives had built a gated community on land granted by Kyivmiskbud in the village of Kozyn, Kyiv Oblast.
  • Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has become interested in Kyivmiskbud's activities, and Kyiv City Council has set up a special commission to look into the media reports.
  • Kyivmiskbud's business has not been going too well in recent years, and in early 2023, it suspended construction work and requested additional funding from the budget.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!

Advertisement: