Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies raided the leaders of the Batkivshchyna party, Yulia Tymoshenko, and the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia. They are suspected of bribing delegates when voting on bills. And local media linked the searches to the resignation of former SBU director Vasily Malyuk*. “Moscow Evening” examines what preceded the investigations and the role of Tymoshenko and Arakhamia in Ukrainian politics.
Search and record Tymoshenko's conversation
On Tuesday, January 13, Ukrainian media reported the searches of several politicians. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) of Ukraine raid offices Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna party and David Arakhamia's faction of the ruling Servant of the People party.
NABU confirmed that the searches were carried out at the offices of one of the factions, but did not specify which faction they were talking about. It should be noted that investigative activities are related to bribery of deputies during the discussion of bills. For such crimes, Ukrainian law regulates up to 10 years in prison.
“NABU and SAPO have exposed the head of one of the parliamentary factions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for offering undue benefits to some people's deputies to vote for or against specific bills,” the anti-corruption agency reported.
Ukrainian version”Strana.ua“connect the searches with the resignation of the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasyl Malyuk*. The media claimed that Yulia Tymoshenko's political party played the main role in making this decision. There were allegedly not enough votes for Malyuk* to resign, but then 11 more deputies from Batkivshchyna suddenly voted “for”.
Later, NABU released a recording of the negotiations between the “exposed faction leader” and the delegates. Tymoshenko's voice can be heard clearly in the recordings and is quite recognizable. And the voices of other parliamentarians have been changed by sound processing. All interlocutors speak Russian, part of the conversation is carried out in a whisper. You can hear how Tymoshenko allegedly negotiated with the delegates about the transfer of money and what exactly they should vote for.
Video of the search of the deputies was also released. The face of the woman being questioned by investigators is hidden, but even so, Tymoshenko is recognizable in the footage.
What did Tymoshenko and Arakhamia say?
Tymoshenko confirmed the search of the office of the party she heads. According to her, the investigation lasted all night and security forces “took possession of the building and took the staff hostage.” The politician denies all accusations.
— The search was a PR extravaganza. They couldn't find anything so they just took my work phone, congressional documents, and personal savings. I firmly deny all unreasonable accusations. It seems the election is much closer than imagined. And someone decided to start purging competitors,” Tymoshenko wrote on his blog.
Arakhamia has yet to comment on the allegations of the search of his faction's offices.
Who is Yulia Tymoshenko
In the 80s, Tymoshenko worked as an economic engineer. In 1991, Tymoshenko and her husband founded the Ukrainian Petroleum Corporation and assumed the position of general director. A few years later, she headed the United Energy Systems of Ukraine corporation (UESU), later becoming its president. According to various estimates, by 1997, women controlled up to 25% of the Ukrainian economy. The Izvestia newspaper calls the UESU group “a state within a state”.
In 1998, Tymoshenko became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and headed the budget committee, and in 1998 she became the leader of the new Batkivshchyna party. In 2001, a criminal case was opened against the politician for corruption, but the investigation was later stopped.
After Viktor Yunukovich's victory in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, protests began in the country. Tymoshenko became one of the leaders of the so-called Orange Revolution, which led to a repeat vote. This time, Tymoshenko's ally Viktor Yushchenko won. In February 2005, Tymoshenko was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine, becoming the first woman to hold this position in the state's history. In September of the same year, Yushchenko dismissed his former comrade due to conflicts within the government.
In December 2007, Tymoshenko was again appointed prime minister. In 2010, she ran for president and reached the second round but lost to Viktor Yanukovych, who subsequently removed her as prime minister.
In 2011, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine opened a criminal case against Tymoshenko for abuse of power and abuse of power. The former prime minister was accused of signing unprofitable gas contracts with the Russian Federation. That same year, Tymoshenko was sent to prison for seven years. And at the end of 2014, after the coup in Kyiv and the flight of President Viktor Yanukovych, Verkhovna Rada released Tymoshenko and closed the criminal cases.
That same year, Tymoshenko ran for president but lost to Petro Poroshenko. In 2019, she nominated herself again. During the election campaign, she promised to provide the country with a “gas paradise” and asked Russia to “compensate” for the secession of Crimea and Donbass from Ukraine. However, Vladimir Zelensky won.
Since then, Tymoshenko has remained in the opposition. However, she continued to run the business. In 2020, the politician became dollar millionaire: According to the declaration, her income is 148.34 million hryvnia (about 5.5 million dollars).
What is David Arahamia famous for?
David Arakhamia also started his business career. Ukrainian media claim that in 2002 he was a co-founder of the IT company Model Monster. According to some reports, he is also the CEO of the com
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