Akhmetov didn't receive any info from Kilimnik, Manafort about 2016 U.S. presidential election – Akhmetov's press secretary
Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov was not in contact with the former head of Donald Trump's campaign headquarters, Paul Manafort, and his Russian business partner, Konstantin Kilimnik, about the U.S. presidential elections in 2016, said Akhmetov's press secretary, Kateryna Ostroushko.
"Rinat Akhmetov never requested or received any polling data, as well as other information about the 2016 U.S. elections from Paul Manafort or Konstantin Kilimnik. Any information about the contacts between them and Mr. Akhmetov in connection with the 2016 U.S. presidential election is false and strongly refuted," Ostrushko told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Thursday.
Ostroushko said the work Akhmetov's System Capital Management Group (SCM) with Manafort and his consulting firm was completed in 2005.
"After this period, Manafort did not have any cooperation with SCM. Any work that he performed in Ukraine after this period was political, and neither SCM nor its shareholder, Rinat Akhmetov, paid for any work," she said.
"In this connection, information about any 'debts' or other existing financial obligations between Akhmetov and Manafort is absolutely untrue," Ostroushko said.
As earlier reported, media citing their own sources said Ukrainian businessmen Serhiy Liovochkin and Akhmetov probably received opinion polling data from the 2016 U.S. presidential election from Manafort. The data was reportedly passed on by Kilimnik, who is associated with Russian intelligence agencies.