Ukraine accuses former PM Yulia Tymoshenko of bribery, source says
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Ukrainian lawmaker Yulia Tymoshenko allegedly ran a vote-buying scheme, a claim she has denied.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Yulia Tymoshenko is accused of bribery on Jan 14 for allegedly running a vote-buying scheme, according to a source familiar with the probe.
- NABU stated it exposed a "systemic" plot involving payments for votes, alleging a "regular cooperation mechanism" with advance payments for lawmakers and instructions.
- Tymoshenko denied "all accusations," pledging to clear her name in court, amidst Ukraine's anti-corruption efforts critical for EU membership.
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KYIV - Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators accused former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko of bribery on Jan 14 for allegedly running a vote-buying scheme, a source familiar with the matter said, the latest probe to rattle Kyiv’s ruling class.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said it had served charges of bribery to an opposition party chief after exposing several other lawmakers in December as members of a “systemic” plot to receive payments in exchange for votes.
While the bureau did not identify Ms Tymoshenko by name, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters she was the subject of the probe.
Ms Tymoshenko, who rose to prominence two decades ago as a leader of the pro-democratic Orange Revolution, denied “all accusations” but didn’t specifically address the probe.
In a Facebook post, she pledged to clear her name in court.
“This concerned not one-off arrangements, but a regular cooperation mechanism that envisaged advance payments and was designed for a long-term period,” NABU said on Jan 14.
“Lawmakers were to receive instructions on how to vote,” or not to vote at all.
Eradicating corruption is critical to Ukraine’s effort to join the European Union, though recent revelations of graft have drawn attention to the scale of this endeavour.
NABU and anti-corruption prosecutors shocked Ukrainians in November 2025 by unveiling an alleged US$100 million (S$128 million) kickback scheme in the energy sector
The probe into Ms Tymoshenko, a sharp-elbowed populist who launched her career in the 1990s, broadens an anti-graft campaign that has ensnared senior ministers and opposition lawmakers.
Ms Tymoshenko served as prime minister in 2005 and again from 2007-2010. Her political influence in recent years has significantly diminished, with her Fatherland party holding around two dozen seats in Ukraine’s 450-seat legislature. REUTERS
