The Batkivschyna faction in Ukraine's parliament has sent requests to the embassies of European countries, and the United States asking them to confirm or deny reports that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko allegedly has millions on bank accounts in these countries.
“I am telling you officially that the Batkivschyna faction has prepared queries and sent them to all European embassies. In particular, to the Embassy of Switzerland, as well as to the U.S. Embassy, requesting that they provide us with the information about any property or any accounts that might belong to Yulia Tymoshenko or her family,” First Deputy Leader of the Batkivschyna party MP Oleksandr Turchynov told journalists on Wednesday.
“I am convinced that this information will again confirm that the Prosecutor General’s Office and the government are lying,” he said.
The MP said that he was speaking about the statement by Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka that an NGO found $500 million on Tymoshenko’s account in Switzerland.
“I want to say that this information has not been confirmed, no name of the companies was given, no names of the accounts, and no names of the banks,” Turchynov said, adding that these reports were intended to mislead the public and the European Community.
As reported, in early November 2013, the Income and Tax Ministry of Ukraine started legal proceedings in the United States and in Switzerland to protect the interests of Ukraine in the case of the misappropriation of over $200 million by a group of people, allegedly including two former Ukrainian prime ministers, Yulia Tymoshenko and Pavlo Lazarenko.
On November 19, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said that the lawsuit involved the return of more than $500 million that were alleged to have been illegally withdrawn from Ukraine by Lazarenko and Tymoshenko.
