People’s Deputy from the “OPZZH” Bort arranged foreign business trips, but lived in Florida — “Schemes”
Фото: Схеми
MP Vitaliy Bort, elected from the banned “OPZZH” and currently a member of the “Platform for Life and Peace” group, arranged foreign business trips, but spent a significant part of this time in the United States – with his family in Florida.
This is stated in the investigation of the “Schemes” project (Radio Liberty).
Journalists found out that starting in 2024, the deputy repeatedly traveled on business trips to countries in North, Central, and South America, but spent most of his time in Miami, where his family owns real estate. He also coordinated vacations abroad with the Verkhovna Rada leadership, despite a general ban on officials traveling for non-official business.
At the same time, Bort has been missing plenary sessions of parliament and meetings of the budget committee, of which he is a member. He has not yet responded to journalists’ inquiries.
In particular, in December 2024, the deputy requested a business trip to Mexico “to deepen interparliamentary cooperation with the states of Latin America and the Caribbean” from December 20 to 27. But, as journalists found out, he never went to Mexico: he left Ukraine on December 19, flew to Miami on the 20th and spent 10 days there, returning home on December 31.
A similar situation occurred with a trip to Central America in October 2024. Officially, Bort was supposed to visit Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize, but in fact he only visited Panama — journalists found a photo of a meeting at the Foreign Ministry of that country. He spent the rest of his time in Miami again: before and after the trip there.
Another business trip — to South America — was scheduled for the end of July 2024. According to the documents, the deputy was supposed to visit Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay, but he ended up in Miami on July 31. The investigation notes that in fact he only had three working days in the three countries.
During this period, the Board missed the budget committee meeting on August 7 — officially due to vacation.
Journalists also found that the deputy flew to Florida not only on business trips, but also for vacation. For example, in October 2025, he spent about two weeks there and also missed a committee meeting. At that time, he officially notified the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, that he would be on vacation abroad.
Bort last flew to Miami on January 21 of this year, during the period of massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector. He stayed in the US for almost a month and returned on February 15. During this time, the deputy missed five plenary sessions of the Verkhovna Rada, including the one at which a nationwide minute of silence was introduced. After returning, as journalists note, he appeared in parliament with a noticeable tan.
According to the declaration, since 2021, Bort’s family has owned a 175 square meter apartment in Miami — it is registered to the company of his wife Olga Bort and daughter.
The Verkhovna Rada responded to journalists’ inquiries about the deputy’s business trips that this information is official and not subject to disclosure. Bort himself has not yet responded to Schem’s inquiry.
We will remind you that the authorities thwarted Petro Poroshenko’s participation in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, despite the fact that the documents approving the composition of the official delegation were signed by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Stefanchuk.
As reported later, the authorities cynically prevented Petro Poroshenko from going on an official foreign trip as part of a delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius for the second time .
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