Kyiv’s Pechersk Court on Oct. 12 ordered Kremlin ally, lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, to remain under house arrest until December after prosecutors widened their investigation into his activities and accused him of financing militants in Donbas.
Medvedchuk, who actively denied wrongdoing, has been under house arrest since May as he waits to be tried on a previous treason charge.
On Oct. 8, he was charged with terrorism and a second count of high treason. Ukraine’s top prosecutor on Oct. 11 requested for the court to arrest Medvedchuk and set bail at Hr 1 billion (about $38 million.)
The court turned down the request, extending Medvechuk’s round-the-clock house arrest to Dec. 7 from Oct. 31.
The prosecution considers such a precautionary measure inadequate, given the gravity of the charges against him, including terrorism, treason. If found guilty, Medvedchuk is looking at up to 15 years in prison.
“In these circumstances, such a precautionary measure is insufficient and will not ensure the proper behaviour of a person,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.
Medvedchuk and his pro-Kremlin party have repeatedly denied the lawmaker’s guilt and called the charges politically motivated.
“I can’t say that the lawyers or I are satisfied with such a decision when the accusations are made of cardboard. That is why I regard it as illegal political repression,” Medvechuk told reporters after the court hearing.
Medvedchuk is a Ukrainian citizen but has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather of his daughter.
What are the charges?
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in 2014, months after Russia invaded Crimea and Donbas, Medvedchuk derailed Ukraine’s attempt to buy coal from South Africa. Instead, he allegedly orchestrated an illegal scheme to supply coal from Russian-occupied Donbas to state-owned enterprises in Ukraine.
The SBU published audio tapes of a man alleged to be Medvedchuk discussing the scheme with top Russian officials and their proxies in Donbas. The audiotapes reveal Medvedchuk’s communications with then-Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, President Vladimir Putin’s top aide Vladyslav Surkov and Vladimir Ostrovenko, deputy chief of Putin’s administration.
The government agency alleges that Medvedchuk and his associate Serhiy Kuzyara opened bank accounts and signed coal shipping contracts with leaders of the Russian-controlled militants.
Later, the coal was shipped to Russia, rebranded as Russian, and sent to Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Centrenergo. Kremlin-led militants, fighting against Ukrainian troops, received more than Hr 200 million ($7 million) from Ukraine due to this deal.
The prosecution alleges that power shortages and periodic blackouts followed Medvedchuk’s attempt to force Ukraine to buy coal from occupied Donbas.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said that the Administration of President Petro Poroshenko could have played a key role in organizing coal supplies from occupied territories to Ukraine.
“The investigation and prosecutors have information that the leadership of the Presidential Administration not only discussed during the phone talks specific facts of the criminal plan but also issued clear instructions to several officials,” Venediktova wrote in a column for Ukrainska Pravda.
Similar scheme was made in occupied Crimea, according to Venediktova.
On May 11, the Prosecutor General handed Medvedchuk and his ally, Opposition Platform MP Taras Kozak, their first high treason charge. They are suspected of colluding with the Russian government to extract natural resources in occupied Crimea.
According to Venediktova, after Russia annexed Crimea, Medvedchuk re-registered his Kyiv-based company based on Russian laws to continue extracting gas in the peninsula. She demonstrated audio tapes that allegedly show Medvedchuk discussing the details of it with Kozak.
In the recording, Kozak allegedly says that the company needs to be re-registered to a Russian citizen, and Medvedchuk agrees to do it.
The oil and gas field that Medvedchuk’s company allegedly worked in is estimated to be worth Hr 38 billion ($1.44 billion), according to Venediktova. It is known as the Hlyboke oil and gas field and is located in the eastern part of Crimea.
Medvedchuk allegedly shared geological information that helped Russia begin extracting resources in Crimea.
Sanctions
This year saw Medvedchuk’s precipitous fall from being one of Ukraine’s most influential men with three TV channels to a sanctioned criminal defendant with none.
On Feb. 19, Ukraine’s National Security Council imposed sanctions against Medvedchuk, his wife, Oksana Marchenko, and several other individuals and entities. The sanctions froze the couple’s assets for three years and prevented them from doing business in the country. Criminal charges followed several months later.
The decision came two weeks after the council on Feb. 2 issued personal sanctions against Medvedchuk’s closest ally, pro-Kremlin lawmaker Taras Kozak and his three nationwide TV channels – NewsOne, Channel 112, and ZIK, which aired Kremlin propaganda about Ukraine.
As a result of the sanctions, the channels immediately shut down. The council on Feb. 19 also imposed sanctions on Natalia Lavreniuk, Kozak’s wife.
Back in 2014, the U.S. sanctioned Medvedchuk for “being a threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
