Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said the case involving ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko in the United States will be completed in 2018. He said this during the 15th YES forum organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Kyiv on September 15.
“Should I go to study Lazarenko’s case? How many years has it been investigated in the United States? I am told that this year it will reach its logical conclusion, and Ukraine will finally receive $170 million, which were stolen from Ukraine. I will definitely go to the United States for this, I already have an invitation,” Lutsenko said.
Lutsenko said the U.S. can teach a lot in the fight against corruption.
“First and foremost, effective laws on which even the highest official can be arrested for corruption and non-payment of taxes. We do not have such laws, and I have to work in the conditions that exist,” he said.
Lutsenko said during his visit to the U.S. he intends to discuss “other promising things.”
“For example, let’s talk about the $6 billion that Yanukovych’s mafia probably sent there, I have something to talk about with my American colleagues, but not from the standpoint of a young pioneer being called to the teacher. We are partners and work together on the overall result. Because corruption in Ukraine is not an isolated phenomenon, it is a global challenge for all countries, because most of our corrupt officials use an offshore system that is absolutely transparent to the U.S., but it is very opaque for all of us,” he said.
