Wanted Ukraine official opens art gallery in Belarus

Ihor Yakubovych, the former board chairman of the State Grain Corporation under the Yanukovych administration, is a partner in a private art gallery in Minsk that opened on Sept. 10, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on Sept. 23. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine placed Yakubovych under international search in January, charging him with the theft of UAH 177 mln in state funds, likely part of a Chinese loan for agricultural projects that the corporation gained using state guarantees. Yakubovych claimed the charges are “100 percent politicized.”

Zenon Zawada: The post-EuroMaidan scenario can appear absurd to the Western observer. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko agreed to host the negotiations to resolve the Donbas armed conflict, seemingly as a gesture of goodwill, yet he has allowed an official wanted by the Ukrainian government to spend USD 150,000 on art gallery, all but certain to have been gained illegally. In allowing Yakubovych to do this, Lukashenko is undermining attempts to establish rule of law and stability in Ukraine. At minimum, he should have forbid Yakubovych from spending this suspicious money in Belarus. At best, Lukashenko should have had Yakubovych arrested if he is truly interested in peace in Ukraine.