since 26 August 2000
Natalya Krasnoboka
Fighting corruption
In comparison with neighboring Russia, Ukraine has had a relatively quite summer. The break from political life has been interrupted only once by the arrest of Olexandr Tymoshenko, a member of the board of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation. The arrest of this businessman is not seen as an extraordinary event in modern Ukrainian life.
However, Tymoshenko is not only a businessman but also the husband of Yuliya Tymoshenko, vice prime minister of the current Cabinet. It is difficult to give a prove whether the arrest of Olexandr Tymoshenko is in any way connected with his wife's job.
Together with Valery Falkovych, first deputy general director of the corporation, Tymoshenko is officially accused of embezzling USD 800 000 in public funds through the export of rolled metal to Asia during the 1990s.
On her part, Yulia Tymoshenko blames her political rivals for the action taken against her husband. She sees the fear and anger of her opponents, because of her constant desire and efforts to stop corruption in Ukraine's energy sector, as the main reason behind his arrest.
The story took on a new course on Friday when Deputy Chief Prosecutor Mykola Obykhod accused the corporation of illegally transferring more than USD 1.1 billion abroad. More fuel was added to the fire by the release of information that up to USD 100 million was sent to the accounts of former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who is still waiting for the final verdict from the American and Swiss courts on the matter of corruption during his time in the Cabinet of Ministers.
This information not only etablishes clear links between Olexandr Tymoshenko and the disgraced ex-Prime Minister, but between Lazarenko and Yulia Tymoshenko as well. At the time of the illegal transactions mentioned by the prosecutor, Yulia Tymoshenko was head of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation.
Further developments are expected to follow soon. From now on, it is difficult to draw any conclusions or take information presented by the prosecutors for granted.
Only one thing is clear: Yulia Tymoshenko, who will possibly be supported by Prime Minister Yuschenko, some other members of the Cabinet and her own political party Batkivschyna (Fatherland), is not going to give up on her husband's arrest nor with the accusations against herself.
I can see that you have obtained an old article. Why not check this http://www.10iacc.org/content.phtml?documents=300&art=47 and the pdf file http://www.10iacc.org/download/w2-05.pdf from The International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC)
you may as well read this page http://www.tymoshenko.com.ua/eng/about/
Being the head of the Parliament Budget Committee, Yuliya Tymoshenko initiated the budget reform. As the vice prime minister for fuel and energy sector at the Cabinet of Ministers she was striving to bring the industry out of collapse and managed to establish conditions favorable for its economic growth.
When in Cabinet, Tymoshenko took the unprecedented steps to de-criminalize the "backbone" of Ukraine's economy, its fuel and energy sector. In 2000, the Government paid to the population the additional UAH 18 billion, out of which UAH 9 billion was raised through withdrawing costs from the shadow economy, prohibition of barter and introduction of the principles of competition into the energy market. Being deprived of their "shadow" incomes by Tymoshenko's reforms, the financial and industrial lobbyists from the presidential circles got the President to sign the decree on her dismissal in January 2000.
In February 2001, Tymoshenko headed the united democratic opposition, which demanded the dismissal of President Leonid Kuchma suspected of a number of crimes, such as involvement in the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, falsification of the presidential and parliamentary election results, power abuse, corruption, etc.
On February 13, Yuliya Tymoshenko was arrested on charges brought by the Prosecutor General's office against her. General public regarded this fact as a savage punishment of the democratic movement.
In March, Kyiv's Pechersk District Court found charges brought against Tymoshenko groundless and cancelled the warrant on her arrest.
In September, Yuliya Tymoshenko lodged a complaint against the actions of the Prosecutor General's office. Her court appeal is another evidence of Tymoshenko's resolution to prove that none of the charges boosted by oligarch-controlled media are grounded.