You're reading: Criminal inquiry started against Party of Regions faction leader

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has launched a criminal inquiry against leader of the Party of Region's parliamentary faction Oleksandr Yefremov on counts of abuse of authority.

“A pre-trial criminal inquiry has been started against Yefremov on counts of abuse of authority and putting pressure on Luhanskvuhillia coal company’s executives during a tender for assembling mining and low-voltage equipment, in which contracts with Yefremov-controlled firms were signed at prices overstated three times,” it says.

The Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed to Interfax that “a report about the alleged crime has been entered on the single register of pre-trial investigations at the request of the Center for Combating Corruption, and that the facts cited by the center are being studied,” it also says.

No official information was provided to Interfax by the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office on whether a criminal case was opened against Yefremov.

Yefremov can be tried on the sole condition that the parliament votes to deprive him of parliamentary immunity at the prosecutor general’s request.