Procurator General brings charges against government official (12/14/97)

Procurator General brings charges against government official

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Just days after the World Bank expressed its displeasure over the way in which the Ukrainian government is proceeding in its fight against corruption, the Procurator General's Office brought corruption charges against the highest government official yet, and revealed that an indictment is imminent against one of Ukraine's leading business people.

On December 4 the chief of the Consular Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Vasyl Koval, was arrested and charged with abuse of office and unlawful foreign currency operations, five days after the conclusion of a government co-sponsored symposium on fighting corruption, in which World Bank officials criticized the government for much rhetoric and little action.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Viktor Nosaichuk would only confirm that Mr. Koval had been arrested. He refused to comment on the nature of the accusations. Neither would First Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Anton Buteiko, who at a routine ministry press briefing on December 9 said only that the situation is representative of the problem of corruption that today is consuming Ukrainian society. "The situation that has appeared in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mirrors what is going on in our country today," said Mr. Buteiko.

The Procurator General's Office said that it would have no comment until the criminal proceedings against Mr. Koval are completed.

That same day Acting Procurator General of Ukraine Oleh Lytvak asked the Verkhovna Rada to remove the legislative immunity of National Deputy Yulia Tymoshenko in order that he could bring an indictment against her, also for illegal currency operations. Ms. Tymoshenko is the president of United Energy Systems, one of the most successful gas and oil trading firms in Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada national deputy is also a leading member of the Hromada Party and the prime minister of its recently formed shadow government.

Mr. Lytvak asked in a written statement that the Verkhovna Rada agree to allow criminal proceedings to begin by stripping Ms. Tymoshenko of her immunity from prosecution. Ms. Tymoshenko has been indicted for illegally attempting to smuggle $26,000 out of Ukraine at Zaporizhia Airport, where she was preparing to board a flight to Moscow. The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ethics and Legislative Activity, Petro Sheiko, told The Weekly on December 10 that the request will be reviewed by his committee once Ms. Tymoshenko is officially notified and responds. "The problem is that she is never at the [Verkhovna Rada] sessions. So we have had to send her a letter," said Mr. Sheiko.

Ms. Tymoshenko, however, was quick to respond to the allegations. At a press conference on December 6 she stated that she has not broken any laws, and that action by the Procurator General's Office is a political move in the election season orchestrated by the presidential administration.

"This is all being done to lessen the chances for the Hromada Party to do well in the elections," explained Ms. Tymoshenko. A day earlier she had told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that the indictment is "an act of political reprisal," with the intention of forcing her to "quit the arena of political struggle."

Ms. Tymoshenko is aligned in the Hromada Party with former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who has been President Leonid Kuchma's most vocal opponent since being forced from office this past summer. She also is said to be his close business partner.

President Kuchma said during a visit to Zaporizhia the same day that before elections to the Verkhovna Rada scheduled for the end of March 1998 he would reveal the names of the business leaders of the shadow economy, in which some experts believe more than half of Ukraine's commercial trade takes place. "I know very well who these people are," the president told a crowd of Zaporizhia University students. He did not say whether that list would include Ms. Tymoshenko or Mr. Lazarenko.

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