You're reading: Party of Regions: Russian prosecutors may reopen cases against Tymoshenko

The Party of Regions believes Russian prosecutors may reopen the criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's former prime minister and leader of the Batkivschyna party.

"I do not rule out that the Russian Federation may open these cases to return the money that was previously returned to the Russian Federation as a private company’s debt through the state budget of Ukraine," Oleksandr Yefremov, leader of the Party of Regions faction, said, commenting on the media reports stating that Ukrainian prosecutors have suggested that their Russian colleagues resume the investigation into the closed criminal cases against Tymoshenko.

When asked whether the compensation in this case will be paid by the state and not personally Tymoshenko, Yefremov said: "Unfortunately, yes. However, the investigators should track the entire chain and see where this money went."

Tymoshenko was accused of organizing the transfer of bribes through a mediator "to some officials from the Russian Defense Ministry Central Physical Resources and Foreign Economic Relations Department and Central Organizational Planning Department for overstating the prices on physical resources supplied to the Russian Army in Russia in 1996.

In 2005, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said the criminal case against Tymoshenko was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.