The Ukrainian government handed over majority stakes in five lucrative coal plants this year to private companies with close ties to President Viktor Yanukovych's son Oleksandr, according to a report inForbes Ukraine. Though the stakes were worth about $10 million, these companies took them over at no charge

The transfer was made possible by an amendment President Yanukovych passed in March, eliminating a long-standing legal obstacle to the privatization of state-owned companies, Forbes reported.

Oleksandr Yanukovych, denied he had anything to do with the transfer in a letter to OCCRP partner theKyiv Post, which reported on this transaction in detail Thursday. But Forbes Ukraine's Kateryna Kapliuk, with help from OCCRP, found that the umbrella company now controlling the plants is closely linked to him through business associates and his ownership in other agencies.

https://reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/ru/--/-/1698-ukraine-companies-tied-to-presidents-son-receive-coal-plants-for-free-