Key Yanukovych functionary found dead

Mykhaylo Chechetov, an MP in the defunct Party of Regions led by former President Viktor Yanukovych, was found dead the early morning of Feb. 28. He leapt out of his 17-floor apartment in central Kyiv, reported Anton Gerashchenko, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

“Judging from the testimony of Chechetov’s wife, I have no doubt that this was suicide …,” Gerashchenko reported on his Facebook page. “There’s only the issue of whether he was pressed into suicide with threats at meetings or by telephone by those whom he could have testified against,” he said.

On Feb. 21, a local court placed Chechetov under house arrest as part of an investigation into abuse of power charges for his role in leading a vote on Jan. 16, 2014 that attempted to establish a dictatorship in Ukraine. In particular, he was accused of signing vote protocols without reliable data. On Feb. 27, Procurator General Viktor Shokin said additional criminal charges could be filed against Chechetov.

Chechetov is most known for leading the State Property Fund of Ukraine when Ukraine’s biggest steel factory, Kryvorizhstal, was sold to a pool of oligarchs for USD 800 mln in 2004 as part of a non-transparent tender. The deal was cancelled in 2005, after which the company was sold for USD 4,800 mln to Arcellor Mittal as part of an open tender. 

Zenon Zawada: What’s important to understand here is that the Party of Regions entourage is taking the new procurator general seriously. Chechetov’s death is a sign that high-ranking authorities could be criminally prosecuted and convicted for the first time in Ukrainian independence, which would be a dramatic and crucial step towards establishing rule of law in an otherwise lawless country. Shokin has yet to prove himself as a defender of the public’s interests, but so far the signs are promising, however unfortunate they may be. At the same time, it’s worth keeping in mind that similar deaths of key officials in alleged crimes have occurred in the past without prosecutions to follow.