Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20
By - Trend:
Main Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine initiated a criminal case against former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on charges of illegal suspension of inspection of Antonov enterprise, and a preventive measure in the form of detention was chosen for him in absentia, the Prosecutor General's office said on Feb.20, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Azarov is now outside of Ukraine. He left the country after the coup in 2014, during which Viktor Yanukovych was ousted. The new authorities initiated a number of criminal cases regarding the former officials. Azarov said that he was ready to return to the country, no matter which post he will take, but only after the change of the current government. In January 2015, a court in Kiev has ordered the arrest of Azarov. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that Yanukovych, his son Alexander and Azarov were issued an international arrest warrant through Interpol. Later, this information appeared on the website of Interpol.
In February 2015, the Prosecutor's Office charged Azarov with a criminal offense under the article "abuse of power, which resulted in serious consequences."
"It is established that Azarov, while serving as Prime Minister of Ukraine illegally stopped the inspection of the government interagency group in fall 2012, which revealed significant violations of budget legislation in the activities of the Antonov State Enterprise: funds received as a result of the commercial use of aircraft Ruslan remained in the accounts of two foreign companies and a representative of this state enterprise and were used by them at their own discretion," said the Prosecutor General's office.
It is noted that as a result of these actions of the suspect, the state suffered damage in a large scale in the amount of more than 37 million UAH ($ 1.3 million).
The court granted the petition of the Prosecutor's Office in relation to the selection of restraint measure of detention in custody regarding Azarov.
"In view of the materials of the criminal proceedings on presentation by the main military prosecutor's office, the government initiated the issue of transfer of corporate rights of the mentioned non-resident companies to the management of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine," the prosecutor's office also said.
Translated by EA
Edited by CN