Yevhen Shcherban, a member of the Ukrainian elite and a Parliamentary representative for the Liberal Party of Ukraine, was murdered with his wife at the
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
Despite pressure from the European Union and the
Lazarenko was sentenced in the United States to nine years in prison for corruption and extortion.