The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is conducting raids in the offices of the International Investment Bank as part of an investigation into the sale and purchase of the Kuznya on Rybalsky Plant, the Bureau's press service told Interfax-Ukraine.

"SBI investigators are indeed conducting searches as part of a pre-trial investigation into the sale of the Kuznya on Rybalsky Plant," the SBI's press service said.

As reported, in May 2019, ex-Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Andriy Portnov, who served under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, announced his intention to provide information to the SBI about alleged criminal activities of Poroshenko and his allies, which involve an offshore company registered in Panama, theft in Ukraine's army and shenanigans at the Kuznya on Rybalsky shipbuilding plant.

On May 23, SBI Director Roman Truba said his agents were studying Portnov's statement regarding Poroshenko and economic crimes involving the shipbuilding plant. According to him, it concerns about "certain economic crimes related to Leninska Kuznya (presently Kuznya on Rybalsky)."

Portnov said on July 3 that the court had approved investigators' motions for access to documents at the shipbuilding plant and Pryamiy TV. "The crimes involve laundering criminal proceeds, offshore companies, registering shares for fake persons and tax evasion," Portnov said.

On July 25, Poroshenko was questioned at the SBI about the sale of the shipbuilding plant.

In the fall of 2018, businessman Sergiy Tigipko purchased PrJSC Kuznya on Rybalsky Shipbuilding Plant in Kyiv from Poroshenko.

JSC International Investment Bank was registered in March 2008. Its major shareholders as of January 1, 2019, were Petro Poroshenko with 60%, Ihor Kononenko with 14.94%, Oleh Hladkovsky and Oleh Zimin with 9.908% each, as well as Kateryna Vorushylina and Serhiy Vorushylin with 2.5994% and 2.5984%, respectively, and Oleksiy Poroshenko with 0.006110% and Yulia Hladkovskaya with 0.000001%.