European auditor Juhan Parts believes that there are no countries in the EU where the level of corruption is the same as that in Ukraine. Parts was responsible for preparing a report by the European Court of Auditors, which stated that corruption was still widespread in Ukraine and that EU support and measures had not yielded the expected results. Krister Paris, an Estonian journalist, covers this topic in his documentary, “Setting a bad example for the kids. Anti-European values in the international Ukrainian school”. The journalistic investigation was presented at the Brussels Press Club on February 4, 2022.
Paris explored how the administration of one of Ukraine’s most prestigious schools, the Pechersk International School, used “gray” schemes to minimize taxation, using charitable contributions from parents. These funds were then transferred to a specially created public organization, “PSI”.
Pechersk International School is the only one in Ukraine that is accredited under three programs of the International Baccalaureate (IB) – Primary Years Program, Middle Years Program, and Diploma Program. The holder of an IB diploma can be admitted without examinations to any university participating in the program. And there are a lot of them: about two thousand universities worldwide accept the IB diploma.
This school positions itself as the most prestigious educational institution where children of politicians, officials and business people study.
The NGO “Informer” has revealed a hidden organization called PSI, which receives millions of so-called “charitable contributions” from parents of children studying at the Pechersk International School.
“From the employees of Pechersk International School LLC, who refused to disclose their personal data due to potential harassment by the school administration, we received documented information about the officials of Pechersk International School LLC and NGO PSI committing systematic fraudulent fund embezzlement of physical and legal entities, which were received as payments for tuition as well as abuses aimed at tax evasion and money laundering,” states the appeal of the NGO “Informer” to the People’s Deputy Volodymyr Kozak.
The non-governmental organization “PSI”, established in 2010, operates solely to “support” the PSI school. This is directly stated in the letters of the NGO “PSI” with a request to provide charitable assistance, which are compiled and submitted for signature to the head of the NGO “PSI” by PSI school officials.
The Estonian journalist drew attention to the Pechersk International School because there is also a similar school in Estonia. In particular, both are accredited by the International Baccalaureate. Yet, the cost to study is quite different: 24,000 dollars in Kyiv and 8,000 in Tallinn.
Krister Paris asked the International Baccalaureate for clarifications and informed them about the possible issues at the Pechersk International School.
The author notes that the public organization “PSI” includes well-known people in Ukraine, such as the wife of former Ukrainian President, Kateryna Yushchenko and Natalia Fiala, the wife of the owner of an investment company and member of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International Tomasz Fiala.
The website of the Pechersk International School states that it has the support of the US State Department. Moreover, the deputy chairman of the school board is Juliana Ballard, who works at the US State Department.
People’s Deputy Volodymyr Kozak, who received documents about possible fraud committed by the Pechersk International School, sent relevant inquiries to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office and the National Police of Ukraine. Furthermore, he asked law enforcement officers to verify the facts presented.
At the request of the parliamentarian, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office entered information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the National Police launched a pre-trial investigation.
This article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine stipulates that taking someone else’s property or acquiring the right to property by deception or abuse of trust is a fraud. If it is committed on a particularly large scale or by an organized group, it is punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to twelve years with confiscation of property.
The Estonian journalist talked to experts who studied the documents. They came to the conclusion that it is clear that the Pechersk International School uses a scheme using charitable contributions to minimize the tax burden.
At the same time, experts doubt that the case will be investigated. There are too many well-known names in the leadership of both the school and the public organization. And the patronage of the US State Department makes it clear that these schemes are simply turned a blind eye on.
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