Vadym Pozharskyi was a Ukrainian energy businessman and executive of Burisma, making him a key figure in the Hunter Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory. He served as an advisor to the board of Burisma, and, on 12 May 2014, he sent an email to Hunter Biden asking how Biden could use his political influence on Burisma's behalf. On 17 April 2015, Pozharskyi sent Hunter Biden another email thanking him for inviting him to Washington DC and giving him an opportunity to meet his father, Vice President Joe Biden. That December, Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin - who was investigating alleged crimes committed by Burisma's executive board - was fired by President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk after Joe Biden threatened to withhold a $1 billion loan guarantee unless Shokin was fired. On 14 October 2020, news about the 2015 email from Pozharskyi to Hunter Biden was publicized by the conservative tabloid New York Post just two weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election.