Ukrainian police investigators have opened two criminal cases into an attempt to bribe voters in favor of Yevhen Bakulin, a former chief of 'Naftogaz of Ukraine' and currently a candidate for the Verkhovna Rada representing the Opposition Bloc, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
‘Bakulin. That very former head of Naftogaz Ukrainy, Yevhen Bakulin. Again. The investigative committee of the Interior Ministry’s Severodonetsk city department has opened two criminal cases into signs of a crime described in Ukrainian Criminal Code Article 157 Part 1,’ Avakov said on Facebook on Saturday.
The two incidents in question took place on October 15 and 17. “Both cases imply an attempt of bribery. A monetary reward in an amount of 200 hryvni was offered in exchange for voting for candidate Bakulin in the October 26 elections. A pretrial investigation is under way,” Avakov said.
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine are scheduled for October 26.
It was reported earlier that Bakulin, who headed Naftogaz Ukrainy from March 2010 to March 2014, was detained on suspicion of massive embezzlement on March 21, 2014.
A court ruled on March 23 that Bakulin would have to be either arrested or released on bail amounting to UAH 1.5 billion.
The Kyiv Court of Appeals left Bakulin in custody on March 28. His defense intended to send a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights on “his illegal detention and the application of torture against him.”
Kyiv’s Pechersky District Court released Bakulin on bail of UAH 10 million on April 25.
It was reported on September 19 that the Prosecutor General’s Office had invalidated a directive on closing a criminal case against a number of former Naftogaz top managers.
