[3] The Fund is also active in helping new entrants into farming and rural enterprise, and aims to provide young people with the skills they need to ensure that the countryside remains a living, breathing place for farmers in the future.
[7] In 2008, the advent of the global financial crisis had a major impact on the project, affecting the prospects for the Knockroon development and thus the recouping of the £20 million loan.
[7] To get out of the financial hole, the foundation managed to raise £5 million from private donors, including Ruben Vardanyan, a Russian banker from Armenia.
[7] Vardanyan's charities stated that both he and his wife were approached in 2013 to gather a group of sponsors that could help with funding the renovation of a run-down farm building near the estate's west entrance and turning it into an upmarket guest house.
[7] He also led the investment bank Troika Dialog that managed a network of 70 offshore companies moving billions out of Russia, details of which were exposed through the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
[8] In 2009, 2010, and 2011 the Prince's Charities Foundation received $100,000, $41,000, and $61,000 respectively via the now-defunct bank Ūkio bankas in Lithuania to help restore Dumfries House.
[8] Vardanyan responded to the incident by stating that while he served as chief executive, he was also a private client of Troika Dialog and any donations to the Prince's Charities Foundation were from his personal funds.
[8] A spokesman for The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation and The Dumfries House Trust stated the charities had applied robust due diligence processes and no red flags arose at the time.
[11] In July 2022, the Charity Commission announced that they would not be launching an investigation into the donations as the information submitted had provided "sufficient assurance" that due diligence had taken place.
[15] The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund responded by stating that "the decision to accept the donation was taken wholly by the trustees", and "due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government".