Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has allowed the prosecution of Yaroslav Dubnevych, a lawmaker from the For the Future faction.
Dubnevych has been at the center of anti-corruption investigations into allegedly shady schemes for several years. He and his brother Bohdan raised suspicion in the fall of 2016 when they listed significant amounts of cash and many real estate holdings in their official asset declarations. Bohdan Dubnevych is one of the richest former lawmakers in Ukraine, and allegedly profited from corruption schemes. Both brothers have previously denied all accusations of wrongdoing.
Currently, lawmakers have immunity from arrest and prosecution. On Jan. 3, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine received a request from anti-corruption prosecutors to strip Yaroslav Dubnevych of his immunity in order to prosecute him in an embezzlement case.
Dubnevych is the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s transportation committee and has been accused of using complex schemes to embezzle up to Hr 93 million ($3.35 million) by selling state-owned railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia spare parts at inflated prices through a company that belongs to the Dubnevych brothers.
According to a separate investigation, the Dubnevyches allegedly profited off another embezzlement scheme through the purchase of natural gas from state energy company Naftogaz, taking more than Hr 1.4 billion ($50.5 million).
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) are reportedly investigating more criminal cases against Ukrzaliznytsya officials and the Dubnevych brothers.
In February, NABU detained an assistant to Yaroslav Dubnevych and the former deputy head of the Production Support Center of Ukrzaliznytsia at the Boryspil airport outside Kyiv on suspicion of embezzlement.
In order to strip immunity from Dubnevych to prosecute, the Rada held a vote on Oct. 31. Three hundred and thirty-two deputies supported stripping him of immunity, 241 voted for his detention and 229 voted for the arrest of Dubnevych.
All three motions were supported by the Servant of the People and Voice factions. The European Solidarity and Fatherland parties only supported the removal of immunity. However, more members of Servant of the People voted for the first motion than for the second two. According to the Ukrainska Pravda news site, 96% of the party’s 254 lawmakers supported stripping Dubnevych of immunity, while 87% and 83% supported his detentions and arrest, respectively.
Dubnevych’s own party, For the Future, and Oppositions Platform – ZaZhyttya did not support the motions.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka, who asked parliament to let him prosecute Dubnevych on Oct 18, assured Servant of the People that Dubnevych would not be detained right in the hall of the Verkhovna Rada.
Although the votes allowed him to be stripped of his immunity and detained, Dubnevych was only handed a notice of suspicion.
After the parliamentary session, Dubnevych published a post on Facebook decrying the decision.
“No one is interested in the outcome and the real fight against corruption,” he wrote.“This is all a show ordered by the authorities to cover up unpopular decisions that upset society —the removal of the army from Ukrainian territory, the surrender of national interests.
“Unfortunately, the expectations of society for the fight against corruption have been used and transformed into the fight against political opponents.I am ready for any development and continue to uphold the truth and justice in the courts.”
