Wanted: Yevhen Chervonenko

A manhunt for Former Ukraine’s Derzhkomrezerv (State Reserve Committee) Chairman Yevhen Chervonenko has been launched, Ukraine’s Deputy Prosecutor General cum Kyiv Prosecutor Yury Haisynsky told a March 19 press conference. He recalled that criminal cases against Mr. Chervonenko have been instigated for his failure to observe the court ruling, which resulted in his indictment last year. “In January, Mr. Chervonenko was requested to report to the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office on his indictment, however he failed to comply and a nationwide search for him was launched,” the prosecutor said. Mr. Haisynsky said that the Criminal Code of Ukraine foresees no incarceration for this kind of offense. On March 15, journalist Dmytro Ponamarchuk released information that Yevhen Chervonenko, who is running for a seat in parliament on the Our Ukraine roster, is a national of Israel, which under law denies him the right to participate in the Ukrainian elections. In an interview to Ukraina.Ru (www.ukraina.ru) Yevhen Chervonenko explicitly stated that he has never been a citizen of Israel and has neither property nor bank accounts whatever in Israel. “As to this document, this phony, I have never laid hands on it,” Mr. Chervonenko said. “I have never seen, touched it, nor knew it existed altogether. Two weeks ago I was told there was a certain copy of a document. They demanded I pay $200,000 for it, nothing personal, or else they threatened to turn it over to the force that does not favor the Our Ukraine bloc. And they named that force.” However, Mr. Chervonenko declined to name that force, saying that he did not want to make any steps pending the decision of the bloc’s political council, “not to breed hysteria.” “I, as a person under protection, have consulted the special police unit which is protecting me,” he added. “They used a digital device to record that discussion. When I rejected blackmail, Ponamarchuk made this copy public.” He also said he had submitted a statement with explanations to the Central Election Committee requesting they look into this matter.

On Friday March 22 Mr. Chervonenko was taken to the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office for testifying in the case.