Yevhen Oleksandrovych Shcherban ( uk, Євген Олександрович Щербань, 18 January 1946 – 3 November 1996) was a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
Kyiv Post
The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden.
History
American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...
(December 3, 2010) As a member of the
Liberal Party of Ukraine
The Liberal Party of Ukraine ( uk, Ліберальна партія України, translit=Liberalna Partiya Ukrayiny, or LPU) is a modern Ukrainian political party. It was founded on September 12, 1991 in Donetsk. The official date of registra ...
, he was elected to the
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
from the
Volnovakha
Volnovakha ( uk, Волнова́ха, ; russian: Волнова́ха) is a town in Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of Volnovakha Raion, one of the 18 districts of the Donetsk Oblast. Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, ...
The Ukrainian Weekly
''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America.
Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies ...
(January 12, 2003)
Biography
Yevhen Shcherban was born in the village of Kostyantynivka in Krasnokutsk Raion on 18 January 1948. From 1972-77 he studied at the Mining Industrial College in
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...
, and later at
Donetsk National Technical University
Donetsk National Technical University (DonNTU, formerly Donetsk Polytechnic Institute and other names) is the biggest and oldest higher education establishment in Donbas, founded in 1921. In its early years, it was attended by Nikita Khrushchev. ...
. Until 1988 he worked as a mining engineer. After the independence of Ukraine he established a cooperative organization "Progress" and later a corporation "ATON".
In the mid-1990s, Shcherban was among the richest people in Ukraine and a prominent and influential member of
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
for the
Liberal Party of Ukraine
The Liberal Party of Ukraine ( uk, Ліберальна партія України, translit=Liberalna Partiya Ukrayiny, or LPU) is a modern Ukrainian political party. It was founded on September 12, 1991 in Donetsk. The official date of registra ...
.
Assassination
Shcherban and his wife Nadezhda (née Nikitina) were assassinated on a runway at
Donetsk Airport
Donetsk Sergei Prokofiev International Airport ( uk, Міжнародний аеропорт "Донецьк", Russian: Международный аэропорт "Донецк") is a former airport located northwest of Donetsk, Ukraine, that ...
on 3 November 1996 by several men posing as public force officers. Among the killers were Vadim Bolotskikh, Gennadiy Zangelidi and others. Prosecutors have stated the murder was intended to eliminate competition for control of
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
industry. In 2002, eight men were arrested and tried for the murder. All of them were found guilty, with three receiving life sentences.
Related events
Coincidentally, the event took place soon after replacement of the Governor of Donetsk Oblast
Volodymyr Shcherban
Volodymyr Petrovych Shcherban ( uk, Володимир Петрович Щербань; born 26 January 1950) is a Ukrainian politician and governor of a number of regions in Ukraine. He is sometimes confused with another murdered Ukrainian politi ...
(no relation to Yevhen) with the former Minister of Coal Industry of Ukraine
Serhiy Polyakov
Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and h ...
and the appointment of
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...
to the position of a deputy chairman.
Previously, in December 1995, when Serhiy Polyakov was appointed to the ministerial position in Donetsk, the
Industrial Union of Donbas
Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD; uk, Індустріальний союз Донбасу, translit=Industrialnyi soiuz Donbasu) is one of the biggest corporations in Ukraine. It is a horizontally integrated holding company that owns or directs ...
(ISD) was established. Nominally headed by
Serhiy Taruta
Serhiy Oleksiyovych Taruta ( uk, Сергій Олексійович Тарута, rus, Сергей Алексеевич Тарута, r=Sergei Alekseyevich Taruta, born 22 July 1955 in Vynohradne, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukraini ...
, many saw the real leader of the Union as Yevhen Shcherban. Preceding that, in October 1995, Akhat Bragin was assassinated. Since then a number of assassinations of lesser ISD members took place from January to July 1996. However, the assassination of Shcherban became the most noticeable, because he was a
People's Deputy of Ukraine
People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. Gallen-Alten ...
Prosecutor General of Ukraine
The prosecutor general of Ukraine (also procurator general of Ukraine, uk, Генеральний прокурор України) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General ( uk, Офіс ...
Svyatoslav Piskun in January 2003. Piskun was fired from the office of Prosecutor General by two presidents of Ukraine,
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corru ...
and
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010.
As an informal leader of th ...
, but both dismissals were voided by the courts. Since late October 2011 former Prime Minister
Kyiv Post
The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden.
History
American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...
(30 October 2011) In late October 2011 Ukrainian prosecutors began investigating whether Tymoshenko and Lazarenko were involved in Shcherban's murder. On 4 April 2012 Shcherban’s son, Ruslan, gave a press conference in Kiev in which he implied he had new evidence in the case.Prosecutors escalate accusations against Yulia Tymoshenko
Kyiv Post
The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden.
History
American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...
(5 April 2012) The wife of a key witness in the case, Izabella Kyrychenko who is a citizen of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, had complained that she was imprisoned to force a statement from her husband. Arrested in late 2011, she was released after three months from detention in the Lukyanivska Prison on health grounds. Coincidentally, her husband, Petro Kyrychenko was at the time giving testimony in connection with the Shcherban murder. In 2012, the Pechersk District Court closed the case against Kyrychenko.
In 2020, Ruslan Shcherban took back the accusations he had made against Tymoshenko: “As an affected party I had the right to suspect anyone. I had to check it. I know today that Pavlo Lazarenko was the actual assassin's paymaster, and Yulia Tymoshenko had nothing to do with it.”
On 18 January 2013, Tymoshenko was notified that she was a suspect for the murders of Shcherban, his wife and two other people in 1996.Tymoshenko accused of murder , Euronews (19 January 2013)Jailed Ukraine ex-PM Tymoshenko suspected in long-dormant murder case
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, and a 1 ...
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
(18 January 2013)
See also
*
Cassette Scandal
The Cassette Scandal ( uk, Касетний скандал, Russian: Кассетный скандал, also known as Tapegate or Kuchmagate) was a Ukrainian political scandal in November 2000 in which Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma was caugh ...