Lazarenko
United States v. Lazarenko
Opinion
Opinion
I. BACKGROUND
During the 1990s, Lazarenko was a public official in Ukraine. For several years he served in regional governmental positions, including as Governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region of Ukraine. He rose to the level of Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister in 1995 and in May 1996, Lazarenko was appointed Prime Minister. Following a rift in his relationship with President Leonid Kuchma, he was dismissed from this position in July 1997. He then became a member of the Ukrai- nian Parliament and led the opposition Hromada Party. 4170 UNITED STATES v. LAZARENKO While serving as a government official, Lazarenko became involved in the affairs of a number of businesses and formed relationships with prominent businessmen. The United States alleged that certain of Lazarenko’s business relationships amounted to extortion and that he defrauded the Ukranian people by obtaining interests in companies, allocating privi- leges to cronies, and then failing to disclose his assets and wealth as required on Ukranian financial disclosure forms. The government identified five arrangements that formed the basis for the charges in the indictment.