Dmytro Kryuchkov, a suspect in a graft case involving a top ally of President Petro Poroshenko, lawmaker Igor Kononenko, was extradited to Ukraine from Germany late on April 15.
In 2016 Kryuchkov, the CEO of power company Energomerezha, was charged by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with embezzling Hr 356 million ($13.2 million) from power company Zaporizhzhyaoblenergo. After he fled Ukraine, Kryuchkov was arrested in Germany in 2018 and was released on bail.
In early March, Kryuchkov submitted a request to the German authorities to voluntarily return him to Ukraine, and was sent to an extradition prison.
Poroshenko claimed on Ukraine’s ICTV television channel on April 15 that Kryuchkov’s extradition was designed to harm his chances of reelection.
He argued that the extradition was a “pre-election scheme” hatched by presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy and oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who is accused of backing Zelenskiy and denies having political links to him.
Zelenskiy’s campaign could not comment immediately, while Kolomoisky was not available for comment.
Poroshenko said it was surprising that Kryuchkov had been hiding but later decided to turn himself in in the run-up to the election.
The president claimed that Kryuchkov would soon be freed and would appear on Kolomoisky’s 1+1 television channel to help Zelensky’s campaign.
Poroshenko said, however, that Kononenko should be questioned in the case after the election and be held to account if he is guilty.
Kononenko was summoned for questioning in the case by the NABU on April 11.
In March Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe’s Schemes investigative show published alleged audio recordings of conversations between Kryuchkov and Kononenko, the brothers Grigory Surkis and Igor Surkis, Serhiy Storozhenko, an aide to Igor Rainin, formerly governor of Kharkiv Oblast and now Poroshenko’s chief of staff, Igor Kotvitsky, a People’s Front lawmaker and a close ally of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, and other people. The recordings were mostly made in 2015.
The conversations concern state-controlled power companies Zaporizhzhyaoblenergo, Cherkasyoblenergo and Kharkivoblenergo. The Surkis brothers had stakes in Cherkasyoblenergo and Kharkivoblenergo and still co-own Zaporizhzhyaoblenergo. In the conversations, they discuss the distribution of income from the power companies and ways to disrupt shareholder meetings to make sure that their loyalists run the companies.
Oleg Medvedev, a spokesman for Poroshenko’s campaign, and Kononenko denied the accusations, arguing that the expose was being used by Poroshenko’s competitors in the presidential race. Medvedev said Kononenko would file a libel lawsuit against Radio Liberty in a European court.
Among other things, they discuss the alleged participation of Poroshenko, Rainin, Poroshenko’s former Chief of Staff Boris Lozhkin and Dmytro Vovk, a top Poroshenko ally and ex-head of energy regulator, in the schemes.
The Surkis brothers and Rainin did not respond to requests for comment. Storozhenko, Lozhkin, Vovk and Kotvitsky denied the accusations of wrongdoing.
“Kononenko fulfilled the part of the agreements that were an area of responsibility on the part of Poroshenko and Kononenko,” Kryuchkov told Schemes in a handwritten letter. “We had agreements with them on Energomerezha, Kharkivenergo, Mykolayivenergo, Zaporizhzhyaenergo, Cherkasyenergo, Khmelnytskyoblenergo, Tsentrenergo, the Odesa Portside Plant, the Odesa Power Plant, the Mykolayiv Power Plant and other power plants and companies. Certainly, we had financial relations with them. According to our agreements, (Poroshenko and Kononenko) received 50 percent to 70 percent of the income from relevant businesses… The main recipient of the income is Poroshenko.”
“On Friday night we went to P,” Kryuchkov told Kotvitsky in an apparent reference to Poroshenko, according to one of the alleged audio recordings. “He gave the green light personally.”
