The court in the case of former First Vice Prime Minister under Yanukovych, Andrii Kliuiev, who together with former head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Investment and Innovation, Oleksandr Taran, is accused of embezzling more than UAH 195 million from the state budget, has moved to the stage of examining evidence. The prosecutor read out the indictment, and the parties delivered their opening statements. 

The prosecutor argued that Kliuiev involved Taran as an accomplice in the crime. To this end, he used his powers as Vice Prime Minister to secure Taran’s appointment as head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Investment and Innovation. According to investigators, the two then organized the embezzlement of UAH 195 million from the budget. These funds had been allocated to the Semiconductor Plant, of which Kliuiev had become the beneficiary several years earlier, ostensibly for the development of an innovation project. However, according to the investigation, the defendants misappropriated the funds.

The representative of the civil claimant, the Cabinet of Ministers, is asking the HACC to recover this sum from the defendants as damages to the state.

The defense, on the other hand, considers the charges absurd and intends to present the situation in a different light.

Defendant Taran does not accept the accusations against him.

The case against Kliuiev is being considered in absentia. His defense lawyer stated that he regards the charges as fabricated and politically motivated and will not return to Ukraine, as he would be detained. She added that Kliuiev differs from the typical representative of Yanukovych’s entourage and that his family’s wealth during Yanukovych’s rule did not increase but rather decreased.