[Aaus-community-list] Fwd: Kremlin blackmails Tymoshenko with 1996 court case

Thu Jan 14 21:20:31 EST 2010

Beautiful newsletter (except for the awkward blue on orange -- Yatsenyuk
style) from Yushchenko's HQ -- the same news in pictures.

Enjoy!

Vadim

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Our Choice Yushchenko <news at vybir.in.ua>
Date: 2010/1/14
Subject: Kremlin blackmails Tymoshenko with 1996 court case
To: none provided none provided <vadim at uazone.net>

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Issue
19 — January 14, 2010               Campaign
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   Russia
blackmails Tymoshenko to sign gas accords with 1996 indictment

President Viktor Yushchenko said the Kremlin could have used a 1996 Moscow
Court criminal indictment against Yulia Tymoshenko to blackmail her into
signing the 2009 gas accords between Russia and Ukraine. "Its easy to get
from the [1996] criminal case to the 2009 gas agreement," Yushchenko said.
The president made public a 1996 Moscow Court verdict against Yulia
Tymoshenko for bribing Russian generals. Then she owned and controlled an
$11 billion gas trading company called United Energy Systems, which
concluded deals in 1996 to supply $750 million worth of goods to the Russian
army at inflated prices.

"Tymoshenko is charged with organizing bribes to Russian Defense Ministry
officials in September and November 1996 in Dnipropetrovsk through middlemen
in Moscow," Yushchenko quoted from court papers. "The court ruled Tymoshenko
must be detained and kept in custody," he read. Russian law enforcement
agencies issued an arrest warrant in 2000 through Interpol against her, but
later suspended it. Until serving as Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Tymoshenko
could not travel to Russia because of the warrant. However, after being
ousted from the premiership in autumn 2005, she traveled to meet with
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where it is alleged they settled
the case.

"Due to the deal with Putin, the charges were changed and the suggested jail
time was reduced," former Tymoshenko-Member of Parliament Hryhoriy
Omelchenko said in an interview. "That’s why she never went to jail," he
said. "Tymoshenko is on the hook with Putin, who has seriously compromising
material against her." He continued "its dangerous that a presidential
candidate is at the mercy of the Russian leadership." Omelchenko, a former
KGB General, fell out with Tymoshenko earlier this year after he accused
fellow-BYuT lawmakers of covering-up a pedophile scandal that involved three
Members of Parliament from the Tymoshenko Bloc. Another Tymoshenko MP,
Viktor Lozynskiy killed and dismembered a Kirovograd villager in the summer
of 2009. With the collusion of local police and prosecutors, Lozynskiy was
able to flee the country to avoid prosecution. He is currently alleged to be
in Israel and remains on the Interpol search list.
 Ties to Lazarenko

Yulia Tymoshenko got her business start in the 1990s from Dnipropetrovsk
Governor and future Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who is currently serving
a prison sentence in the United States for money laundering. When Lazarenko
became Prime Minister, he immediately moved to give Tymoshenko a monopoly
for importing and distributing Russian natural gas in Ukraine and beyond.
The monopoly was given to United Energy Systems, the second largest gas
company on the territory of the former Soviet Union after Gazprom. In
Matthew Brzezinski’s book "Casino Moscow: A tale of greed and adventure,"
Prime Minister Lazarenko unilaterally cancelled state contracts with dozens
of small Ukrainian gas traders and created a national monopoly that was
given to UES. Days after contracts were canceled an attempt on Lazarenko’s
life was made when a car bomb exploded near the Prime Minister’s motorcade
en route to his government office. It is alleged that Tymoshenko paid
Lazarenko hefty bribes for the national monopoly, which enriched them both,
and financed the Hromada political party, which the two controlled.

"One should not forget her complex relationship with former Prime Minister
Pavlo Lazarenko," Georgetown University Law Adjunct Law Professor Ethan S.
Burger warned. "When the US government first indicted Lazarenko, Tymoshenko
and her company, United Energy Systems, were both named as co-conspirators
in the US case," Burger said. "The charges against Tymoshenko were
eventually dropped, not because the US Justice Department believes that she
had not paid bribes, but because it decided that a US federal court lacked
the authority to hear a criminal case against her," he continued.

Quoted in the Russia
Profile<http://www.icebase.com/go2.shtml?QLDAxE72q9Vkq7Cw/22074627edb8eb16/66aa7c0b7aae4db3/vadim@uazone.net>weekly,
Burger said there are explanations for Russian Prime Minister
Putin’s decision to orchestrate a rapprochement with Tymoshenko. Putin sees
his counterpart as both pragmatic and opportunistic. Hence, she could be
relied upon to see the benefits of more cordial Russian-Ukrainian relations,
because the West could not be counted upon to support Ukrainian interests
against Russia, especially after Ukraine’s actions lead to the interruption
of Russian gas exports of natural gas to certain EU countries.
 Tymoshenko’s Off Shore Accounts

The proceeds from Yulia Tymoshenko’s United Energy Systems have been a
well-kept secret from Ukrainians during the past decade. While Tymoshenko’s
public income declarations claim she lives on little more than $30,000 per
year and owns no property or cars, she and her family rent multi-million
dollar villas and mansions in posh Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk suburbs, drive
luxury limousines and dress in top of the line Louis Vuitton designer
clothes. While journalist inquiries into Tymoshenko’s means have never been
fully answered, new information suggests Tymoshenko taps money from two
offshore accounts, one located on the Pacific Island of Nauru and the other
on the Isle of Man.

Yushchenko unveiled this week that Tymoshenko transferred $1 billion in
profits from UES during the 1990s to a bank account on the island of Nauru.
It became a tax haven and illegal money laundering center during the 1990s.
Coincidentally, on December 15, 2009, Nauru became the fourth country to
recognize the break away republic of Abkhazia and on December 16, it
recognized South Ossetia. Wikipidea reports suggest that the decision to
recognize the two former Georgian territories netted Nauru $50 million in
Russian aid. The second Tymoshenko offshore bank account has a balance of
little more than $400 million and is located on the Isle of Man.
 Criminal case against BYuT MP

President Viktor Yushchenko used a recent press conference to further expose
wrong doing by Members of Parliament in his campaign to lift immunity from
MPs for criminal activities. BYuT MP Oleh Lyashko publicly bated Yushchenko
several times claiming he never had problems with the law. Yushchenko called
his bluff this week when he demonstrated to journalists Lyashko’s court
dossier showing his fingerprints and mug shots after being convicted.
Yushchenko also read to reporters that Lyashko was convicted three-times for
stealing state budget funds from the Chernihiv region and sentenced to
serving time and confiscation of assets. Lyashko tried to justify his
position saying the case was politically motivated, but could not deny he
served time and was in fact sentenced.
 Lottery scandal exposed

During a December 11, 2009 press conference, another BYuT MP whistle blower
exposed three fellow parliamentarians in a national lottery scheme enriching
party members. Interfax reported BYuT MP Anton Yatsenko alleged his
parliamentary collegues Serhiy Triokhin, Victor Ukolov and Serhiy Sobolev
were shareholders and owners in the "Ukrainian National Lottery," which had
annual revenues of 18-22 billion hryvnia ($2.25-$2.75 billion) that were
being expropriated to offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands. The
UNL is one of two national lotteries licensed by the government’s finance
ministry.

Teriokhin is the Rada Committee Chairman that overseas the finance
ministry’s tax and revenue activities and actively lobbies UNL’s interests,
Yatsenko claims. Competing lotteries have tried to expand their market
activities, but have never been able to get the appropriate ministerial
approvals the MP claims. He further claims that during the past five years
UNL has artificially lowered its revenues to avoid paying profit and
value-added taxes. Both Teriokhin and Ukolov were implicated in the summer
pedophile scandal, which was hushed over by the country’s Minister of
Internal Affairs, who is loyal to Prime Minister Tymoshenko.
 BYUT can’t battle corruption

Illegal gas trading, tax evasion, murder, pedophiles and other scandals have
all unfolded during the past months tied to government and parliament
officials from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of Regions. Despite
Yushchenko’s calls to support bills that end parliamentary immunity against
criminal prosecution, MPs from the Party of Regions and BYuT, who control
the majority of votes in the chamber have done all they can to prolong
consideration of the president’s initiatives in order to continue their
illicit activities. Yushchenko is right to point out that corruption in
Ukraine begins first and foremost with government officials and those in
positions of power who continue to cover-up their activities for the sake of
political convenience.
 Background

Viktor Yushchenko was elected independent Ukraine’s third president on
December 26, 2004 and assumed office on January 23, 2005. He implemented
pro-western policies that brought Kyiv closer to Europe and Euro-Atlantic
institutions. His economic policies shepherded Ukraine’s entry into the
World Trade Organization; oversaw an economic boom that created 3.2 million
jobs; attracted $36 billion in foreign direct investment; doubled personal
incomes; doubled international trade; and saw the poverty level drop to 8%.
He opened Ukraine’s borders by canceling visas for European and North
American citizens, which led tourist arrivals to jump to 23 million visitors
annually. He championed policies that promoted the restoration of Ukraine’s
national memory, language and history. His greatest achievements are in the
areas of media freedom, civil liberties and democracy. Under his watch
Ukraine held two democratic and free parliamentary elections that brought to
power opposition parties.

Prior to being elected president, Yushchenko was Ukraine’s Central Bank
Chairman (1993-1999) where he introduced the hryvna – the country’s national
currency. As Prime Minister (from 1999-2001) he ended the country’s economic
decline putting Ukraine on firm footing to realize a decade of consecutive
year-on-year economic growth. As a Member of Parliament (from 2002-2004) he
led Ukraine’s opposition against an authoritarian regime that attempted to
steal the 2004 presidential vote. Mass protests and civil unrest ensued
creating a peaceful "orange revolution." Thereafter, Ukraine’s Supreme Court
ordered a third round of voting, which Viktor Yushchenko won against Viktor
Yanukovych, 52% versus 44%, respectively.
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