Billionaire Ukrainian couple, who held powerful positions during Viktor Yanukovych's regime, today scaled the world's highest peak.
Igor Kushnir, 51, and his wife Oksana Kushnir, 46, being part of the expedition managed by Seven Summit Treks stood atop Mt Everest in between 11:15 to 11:30 am, according to the base camp officials.
Born on 14 June 1971, Igor served as deputy minister of defence of Ukraine from 2010 for two years. His wife Oksana, a Cypriot national of Ukrainian origin is the sole ultimate beneficiary of Baltijos Gildija, one of the largest real estate companies.
"The couple along with Ukrainian mountain guide Oleg Ivanchenko attempted to scale the world's highest peak."DoT official Bigyan Koirala confirmed that three Ukrainians including Igor and Oksana, obtained Everest climbing permits. Ukrainian climber Mykyta Balabanov has led the expedition in which famous Spanish ultra mountain runner Kilian Jornet was also a member of the team. A source at Tribhuvan International Airport shared that Igor used his Ukraine passport to enter Nepal while his wife Oksana produced her Cypriot passport.
According to Ukrainian government records, in 2010, Igor became deputy minister of defence, and two years later, the president of Kievgorstroy – a major publicly-owned construction holding company which controls a significant part of most profitable real estate in Kyiv. Since 2016, Oksana has owned various Ukrainian investment and energy companies through the Cypriot company Koksi Holding.
Igor and Oksana have also faced criticisms in Ukraine for 'hobnobbing' with pro-Russia politicians there while running scores of Lithuanian companies. According to local media reports, during his tenure, Igor had become one of the richest real estate developers in Ukraine with billions of Euro worth assets, while his wife,, Oksana is the owner of a plane on which the ex-people's deputy and Vladimir Putin's ally Viktor Medvedchuk reportedly flew to Moscow. But, in a public statement, Oksana claimed, "My family and I do not have and have never had any personal or business relationship with Viktor Medvedchuk."
