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Part II
Biden Urges Ukraine to Fight Corruption
Speaking during a visit to Ukraine, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. urged the country to weed corruption out of its system.
SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, JOE BIDEN, SAYING: “All Ukrainians: officials, business leaders, the business community, everyday citizens - they have to work together to root out corruption that has held this country back for so long. Mr President, you and I have discussed this before. Ukrainian people can not once again have their hopes dashed based on the cancer of corruption.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, JOE BIDEN, SAYING: “Ukraine is on the cusp here. Ukraine is on the cusp. What happens in the next year is likely to determine the fate of this country for generations.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, JOE BIDEN, SAYING: “A lot of hard work as the president and I discussed, a lot of hard work remains including reform of Ukraine’s law and justice sectors. But the pay off, the pay off will be worth it.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, JOE BIDEN, SAYING: “As I told the president at our meeting, as long as you continue to make progress to fight corruption and a build future of opportunity for all Ukraine, the United States will stand with you.” (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: “I have confirmed to the vice president our readiness, readiness of Ukraine to give maximum support to the coalition forces in Syria. Ukraine is and will stand shoulder to shoulder with the anti-terror coalition and the terrorist threat for Ukraine is well known, not from someone else’s words.”
Speaking during a visit to Ukraine, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. urged the country to weed corruption out of its system.CreditCredit...Mikhail Palinchak/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
“Hunter Biden is a private citizen and a lawyer,” she said. “The vice president does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company. The vice president has pushed aggressively for years, both publicly with groups like the U.S.-Ukraine Business Forum and privately in meetings with Ukrainian leaders, for Ukraine to make every effort to investigate and prosecute corruption in accordance with the rule of law. It will once again be a key focus during his trip this week.”
Ryan F. Toohey, a Burisma spokesman, said that Hunter Biden would not comment for this article.
It is not known how Mr. Biden came to the attention of the company. Announcing his appointment to the board, Alan Apter, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker who is chairman of Burisma, said, “The company’s strategy is aimed at the strongest concentration of professional staff and the introduction of best corporate practices, and we’re delighted that Mr. Biden is joining us to help us achieve these goals.”
Joining the board at the same time was one of Mr. Biden’s American business partners, Devon Archer. Both are involved with Rosemont Seneca Partners, an American investment firm with offices in Washington.
Mr. Biden is the younger of the vice president’s two sons. His brother, Beau, died of brain cancer in May. In the past, Hunter Biden attracted an unusual level of scrutiny and even controversy. In 2014, he was discharged from the Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine use. He received a commission as an ensign in 2013, and he served as a public affairs officer.
Before his father was vice president, Mr. Biden also briefly served as president of a hedge fund group, Paradigm Companies, in which he was involved with one of his uncles, James Biden, the vice president’s brother. That deal went sour amid lawsuits in 2007 and 2008 involving the Bidens and an erstwhile business partner. Mr. Biden, a graduate of Georgetown University and Yale Law School, also worked as a lobbyist before his father became vice president.