Case description
NABU and SAPO accuse Andrii Kliuiev, former First Vice Prime Minister under runaway president Yanukovych, and the former head of the State Investments Agency, Oleksandr Taran, of embezzling nearly UAH 200 million in budget funds. They face up to 12 years in prison, along with confiscation of property.
According to the investigation, in 2008, Andrii Kliuiev became the ultimate beneficial owner of the unprofitable Semiconductors Plant JSC through companies under his control. As early as 2010, Kliuiev, in collusion with the former head of the State Investments Agency, allegedly orchestrated the embezzlement of budget funds through companies under their control.
Andrii Kliuiev
Oleksandr Taran
The individuals in question illegally allocated approximately UAH 170 million to the Semiconductors Plant, allegedly for the development of an innovative project; however, investigators claim that the funds were in fact misappropriated by the defendants. Later, a similar scheme was used to transfer another UAH 25.3 million to controlled LLCs, allegedly for the development of energy-saving technologies. In total, Kliuiev and Taran illegally transferred nearly UAH 200 million to the accounts of companies under their control.
The investigation into these proceedings was initiated by the Department of Special Investigations of the Prosecutor General’s Office in 2014, and NABU conducted its own investigation in 2019.
Kliuiev's actions are classified under Article 27, Part 3, and Article 191, Part 5, and Taran's actions under Article 191, Part 5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Andrii Kliuiev was one of the most influential figures in the Party of Regions.
According to an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda, Andrii Kliuiev is believed to be responsible for the violent dispersal of Euromaidan on November 30, 2013. Among other things, journalists reported that “...this operation was led by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Andrii Kliuiev...” and that “..Kliuiev, together with his first deputy, Volodymyr Sivkovych, selected the Berkut brigades they considered best suited for the dirty work.”
Andrii Kliuiev also previously coordinated the activities of the banned Socialists Party.
Active in politics since the mid-1990s, Kliuiev initially served as a regional politician in the Donetsk region.
At the Party of Regions Congress in December 2001, he was elected First Deputy Chairman of the party. Since April 2002, he has served as a Member of Parliament of Ukraine and Chairman of the Committee on Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy, and Nuclear Safety.
In April 2003, at the Party Congress, he was elected Secretary of the party's Political Council.
From 2003 to 2005, he served as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for the Fuel and Energy Complex.
In April 2006, he was elected a MP for the second time on the Party of Regions’ list. In August of the same year, he was reappointed Deputy Prime Minister for the Fuel and Energy Complex.
In the early parliamentary elections of 2007, he was elected a MP from the Party of Regions for the third time.
In March 2010, he was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister in the Azarov Government.
In February 2012, by decree of the fugitive president Yanukovych, he was dismissed from the post of First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
On January 24, 2014, he was appointed Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine. On February 23, 2014, he submitted his resignation and subsequently disappeared.
The former Deputy Prime Minister was placed on the national and international wanted lists, a special pre-trial investigation was launched against him, and his parliamentary immunity was lifted. It is known that he managed to flee to Russia, just like former president Yanukovych. According to the prosecution, Kliuiev took part in a trial in Moscow, where he testified about the so-called “coup d'état in Ukraine” (referring to the Revolution of Dignity), and also appeared on Russian television broadcasts. The SAPO received a letter from Azerbaijan, claiming on behalf of Kliuiev that he was in the country. However, the verification did not confirm this claim. In 2017, it became known that Interpol had suspended the international search for Andrii Kliuiev, his brother Serhii, and virtually all officials from the Yanukovych era, including former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and former ministers Eduard Stavytskyi, Raiisa Bohatyriova, Serhii Arbuzov, among others.
