Rothschild Trust (Schweiz) has decided to pay dividends of over UAH 556.7 million (nearly US$20.4 million) to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for the first time in three years; the president is due to pay almost UAH 60 million (nearly US$2.2 million) in taxes, according to the Ukrainian presidential administration's press service.

"The decision has been made consistent with the trust agreement, which was concluded in 2016 and cut Poroshenko off from managing Roshen. This is the first and only trust agreement in the history of Ukraine based on the international practice. It aims to separate business from politics consistent with the best international standards," the press service said in a statement on Thursday morning.

Poroshenko has reported his dividends equivalent to UAH 556,742,460 to the unified state register of declarations of public and municipal officials. "He will pay almost UAH 60 million in taxes to the budget, including about UAH 8 million in the military tax, by the time established by law," the press service said.

According to the press service, Poroshenko has not been receiving dividends on the companies, whose ultimate beneficiary he is, for more than three years.

"The three-year dividends will be spent by Poroshenko on the financially transparent popularization of the development of statehood, ideas of Euro-Atlantic integration, support for the establishment of the united local Orthodox Church, and the promotion of the Ukrainian language. Poroshenko will also fund political advertising himself, in contrast to many other politicians who pay for commercials and boards from the budget or are unable to explain the source of those funds at all," the press service said.

Some of the dividends paid by Rothschild Trust (Schweiz) will be spent on charity.

According to the press service, Poroshenko put Roshen into Rothschild's trust after the company failed to find a buyer for objective reasons. The Roshen factory in Lipetsk, Russia, closed early last year.