The Russian Defense Ministry's lawsuit to recover from the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine $405,5 million worth of the debt of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) Corporation, which was led by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in 1995-1997, has been described by the Batkivschyna Party as a gift, the Kommersant Ukraine newspaper wrote on Monday.
“This lawsuit is just a gift to us, because if a court rejects a lawsuit lodged by Russia, it, in fact will recognize that the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers has no debt to the Russian Defense Ministry, and therefore, there is no subject of Yulia Tymoshenko’s crime. If the lawsuit is satisfied, then [President] Viktor Yanukovych will have to pay over UAH 3 billion for the opportunity to try Yulia Tymoshenko in this case,” a source in the BYT-Batkivschyna faction told the newspaper.
As reported, the Russian Defense Ministry filed at Kyiv Economic Court a lawsuit against the Ukrainian government for the non-payment of UAH 3.239 billion under a criminal case on the activities of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) Corporation. This is stipulated in a court ruling dated September 5, 2012 and published in the single state register of judgments.
According to the document, Russia demanded the summoning of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the State Treasury Service of Ukraine as defendants in the case.
The UESU is the third party on the side of the defendant in the case.
Meanwhile, a district court in Kharkiv is hearing the criminal case against former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko on the activities of the UESU.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGO) has filed a lawsuit against Tymoshenko with the demand that she pay UAH 19.5 million under the UESU case. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said that the UESU case against Tymoshenko was illegally closed in 2005 under pressure from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko, following the appointment of Tymoshenko as prime minister.
Ukraine’s United Opposition believes that the reports about the UESU’s debt to the Russian Defense Ministry are the attempt by the authorities to discredit Tymoshenko on the eve of the parliamentary elections.
The Justice Ministry will defend Ukraine’s interests in court.
