Owner of VETEK Group Serhiy Kurchenko has said he is surprised at his inclusion in the list of persons whose accounts will be frozen by the European Union, the press service of the group has said.
“I’m surprised I was included in the list of persons, with respect to
whom the European Union applied restrictive measures. But I’m even more
surprised at the phrase ‘a person, who is subject to investigation for
participation in crimes related to public funds embezzlement and their
illegal withdrawal from Ukraine.’ I’m an honest Ukrainian businessman,
who has always invested in Ukraine,” he said.
According to Kurchenko, his companies have been repeatedly checked by law enforcement authorities and no violations were found.
“I think what happened is a misunderstanding related to the
information campaign launched against me and the group in the mass media
by our competitors, [who are] concerned by the active growth of VETEK
Group. In addition, some political forces in Ukraine are trying to take
advantage of this, in the interests of their oligarch sponsors, to seize
my assets under the cover of the tense situation in the country,” said
Kurchenko.
The businessman added that no criminal proceedings had been initiated against VETEK Group.
As reported, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov reported that the VETEK
group of companies of Serhiy Kurchenko in 2012-2013 caused damage of Hr
7 billion to the national budget of Ukraine through illegal imports of
petroleum products and their illegal sale on the market of the country.
