Former Environment Minister Heorhiy Filipchuk was arrested on Dec. 15 for allegedly abusing his position during when he served in former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s government from December 2007 to March 2010, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Yuriy Boichenko, spokesman for the general prosecutor’s office, confirmed the arrest, telling the news agency that Filipchuk would be held in pre-trial confinement while the charges are investigated. “We will release details about the case in the near future,” he said.
Filipchuk is the second minister from Tymoshenko’s cabinet suspected by law-enforcement authorities of committing offences while in office. Former Economy Minister
Bohdan Danylyshyn was detained on Oct. 19 in the Czech Republic for allegedly causing damages to the state. He is currently mulling whether to ask for political asylum.
Following President Viktor Yanukovych’s inauguration in February, law-enforcement agencies have also arrested for Anatoly Makarenko, former head of the State Customs Service, and Ihor Didenko, former first deputy head of state gas company Naftogaz Ukraine, who served under Tymoshenko. Both men are in custody awaiting trial.
