At a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, Shcherban’s son Ruslan told the press that he believes Tymoshenko was involved in his father’s murder. In a March 14 interview with the Associated Press (AP), Ukrainian Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin claimed that Tymoshenko paid for Shcherban’s murder.
In the interview, Kuzmin said that companies controlled by Tymoshenko and former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko paid for Shcherban’s murder. Shcherban was allegedly assassinated because he was competing with Tymoshenko and Lazarenko for control over Ukraine’s natural gas industry.
Tymoshenko was jailed on charges of corruption and abuse of office in relation to gas purchase contracts with Russia in 2009, which the Ukrainian Parliament voted constitutes treason in March.
Despite pressure from the European Union and the Unites States to end what is widely regarded as politically motivated prosecution of Tymoshenko, the prosecutors and the ruling party have been adding charges against her to justify her imprisonment. In addition, Ukraine’s reluctance to allow independent foreign investigation into Tymoshenko’s claim that she is being mistreated in prison raised criticism from the international community.
Lazarenko was sentenced in the United States to nine years in prison for corruption and extortion.
