The owner of the agricultural holding "Ukrlandfarming" Oleg Bakhmatyuk proposed to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to start work on the conclusion of a raw material contract with China, which could bring the country $10 billion.
However, the then head of the President's Office Andrei Bohdan prevented the businessman from convincing the head of state.
The entrepreneur told about this in an interview with journalist Dmitry Gordon.
"I once spent a lot of time in China and the Middle East. Maybe you don't know: on the basis of our company, Ukraine received permission to supply corn to China... We used Rosneft's contract with China as a prototype, when raw materials were supplied against credit resources. When you enter strategic territories, you get cheap financial resources for a long period in return, and this country receives stable supplies of raw materials, which is no less important than the resource itself. Everyone gets what they want. And I had experience, there were achievements... When Zelensky came to power, I thought: "Let me offer my understanding, where Ukraine can take $10 billion and not just kneel down," Bakhmatyuk said, clarifying that it was about the possibility conclusion of raw material contracts with the People's Republic of China and the countries of the Middle East.
According to the businessman, he met with the head of state surrounded by the head of the OP Andrey Bohdan, assistant to the president Sergey Shefir and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.
"I am presenting this project... Moreover, I even managed, as it seemed to me (maybe this is my opinion - you can ask others), to convince the president that this project has a right to life... The IMF is good, the creditors are good, but any alternative enhances your opportunities. And there is diversification in China, in Japan, in the United States of America, and in any country of the European Union. It's normal, it's strength... Bohdan started interrupting in a completely rude manner," Bakhmatyuk said.
The entrepreneur added that then he drew Zelensky's attention to Bohdan's behavior and the latter "clearly did not like it."
"By the way, the president calmed his ego down a little and said: 'Can we negotiate to the end?' The man refused to agree, interrupted, scolded, said all kinds of nonsense that did not correspond to his competence at all. I tried to somehow smooth out (the situation)... But it ended in nothing. I left and didn't even understand why I came," said the businessman.
