Elections No Obstacle to General Prosecutor

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has referred to court a total of 73 criminal cases instigated in the wake of Bank Ukrayina bankruptcy, Prosecutor General Mykhailo Potebenko told a January 8 press conference in Kyiv. A thorough investigation of the bank’s bankruptcy will be rounded off in February-March this year. Incidentally, in December President Leonid Kuchma insisted on a prompt inquiry into the Bank Ukrayina case as he believed it was “intentionally forced into bankruptcy.”

The prosecutor general also made an announcement about the continuing inquiry into Presidential Administration Director Volodymyr Lytvyn’s alleged involvement in the illegal appropriation of state intellectual property. The investigation was launched following a query by People’s Deputy Hryhory Omelchenko. “We are conducting the inquiry. The findings will be given a legal treatment and measures foreseen by law will be taken,” the prosecutor general said.

He also confirmed that the Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case of illegal arms trade implicating high Ukrainian officials, reports Interfax-Ukraine. Simultaneously, Mr. Potebenko said that at the present stage they “cannot be called criminals since it is very much a borderline case.”

According to Prosecutor General Potebenko, by the end of this month his office will bring to court a criminal case in the killing of Vadym Hetman, late chairman of the exchange committee of the Ukrainian Interbank Currency Exchange and former NBU head. Deputy Prosecutor General Mykola Pobut, also attending the press conference, added that eight defendants are presently studying the materials of the case. “By the end of this month the case will be brought to court,” he said. In turn, the prosecutor general added that the Supreme Court of Ukraine will decide on the court jurisdiction of this case. “The prosecutor’s office has solved the case jointly with Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and Internal Affairs Ministry,” he said. Incidentally, last August Mr. Potebenko flatly stated that former Premier Pavlo Lazarenko was involved in the contract killing of Vadym Hetman. Intelligence gathered by the Prosecutor General’s Office is also pointing at Lazarenko as contractor of the killing of People’s Deputy Yevhen Shcherban in 1996.

The prosecutor general also stated that former Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk was interrogated in connection with the bringing down of the ill-fated Tu-154 airliner. According to Mr. Potebenko, “even generals have been interrogated” as part of the investigation. “Everybody involved in this case is giving evidence. This will ensure an impartial and thorough investigation and their actions will be given a legal treatment,” he said.