168 Hours: Why Was a Ukrainian Businessman's Plane Rented for Pashinyan's American Visit?

168 Hours newspaper reports: The Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's trip to the United States aboard a private jet continues to attract media attention. While Pashinyan was still in the U.S., the media revealed that his American visit cost the state budget more than $350,000. It has now been determined which company received that payment.

The Hetq website, in an extensive article, uncovered that the private ‘Gulfstream G550’ jet used by Nikol Pashinyan on September 21 to travel from Gyumri to the U.S. belongs to Ukrainian politician Nestor Ivanovich Shufrich, who was re-elected as a member of parliament in Ukraine in 2019 as a representative of the ‘Opposition Bloc.’ Before entering parliament, he held various positions in different enterprises.

168.am attempted to clarify with the Prime Minister's spokesman, Vladimir Karapetyan, why a jet belonging to a Ukrainian entrepreneur was rented for the Prime Minister's American visit. In response, Vladimir Karapetyan stated: “Let me say, if it had been a plane belonging to another company, there might have been questions about why that company was chosen. There is no specific trend. The choice was made based on expediency,” said Karapetyan.

For more details, refer to today’s edition of the newspaper.