Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko ( uk, Павло Іванович Лазаренко; born 23 January 1953) is 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 ...

former politician, convicted criminal, and international fugitive who served as

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine ( uk, Прем'єр-міністр України, ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of th ...

from 1996 to 1997. Born in 1953 to a peasant family in southern Ukraine, Lazarenko was active in agricultural activities before joining politics in the late 1980s. Originally

Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast The Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is the Chief of Local State Administration (Ukraine), head of executive branch for the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The office of Governor is an appointed position, with officeholders being appointed by the Preside ...

, Lazarenko was in 1995 made

First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine is a government post of the Cabinet of Ukraine. In the absence of the prime minister of Ukraine, the first vice prime minister performs his or her duties as the acting prime minister. In 1991, the post was gr ...

for energy affairs, placing him in charge of acquiring energy from foreign countries. Less than a year later, he was appointed by President

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 ...

as Prime Minister, serving for just over a year before being replaced by

Valeriy Pustovoitenko Valeriy Pavlovych Pustovoitenko ( uk, Валерій Павлович Пустовойтенко; born 23 February 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who served as prime minister of Ukraine from 1997 to 1999. He resigned in connection with Leonid K ...

on 2 July 1997. Lazarenko's time as Prime Minister and subsequent trials have established him as one of the most corrupt, authoritarian, and unpopular Prime Ministers in Ukrainian history. According to United Nations reports, Lazarenko stole around $200 million from the Ukrainian government. Following his 1999 flight from Ukraine, Lazarenko fled to 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 ...

, where he was subsequently been tried for extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud, and sentenced. Since 1999, he has been living in exile in the United States due to criminal charges against him in Ukraine.

Early life and career

Birth and family

Pavlo Lazarenko was born in the village of Karpivka (located near

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. K ...

) on 23 January 1953 into a family of peasant farmers. His father, Ivan Tryfonovych Lazarenko, was born in 1926 in the village of Hnidyn, near

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

. Following Ivan's birth, the family moved to what is now Kherson Oblast, where they worked as farmers. In 1932, the family Lazarenko family moved again to Karpivka, where Pavlo would be born. Pavlo's grandfather, Tryfon Lazarenko, joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

in 1944 and was killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, Ivan established a farm in Karpivka, where Pavlo was born.

Early career

In 1970, Pavlo got a job as a driver in the

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

"Zoria Komunizma" (Dawn of Communism), in

Shyroke Raion Shyroke Raion ( uk, Широківський район) was a raion (district) of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, southeastern-central Ukraine. Its administrative centre was located at the urban-type settlement of Shyroke. The raion was abolished on 18 Ju ...

. From May 1971 to June 1973, Lazarenko served in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

, on the border with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. After his military service, from 1973 to 1978 Lazarenko studied at the in the Agronomic Department. After graduating, Lazarenko was recognised as an agronomist. From 1978 to 1983, he worked variously as agronomist, chief agronomist, and head of kolkhoz administration in the Kalinin kolkhoz in Novomoskovsk Raion. In 1984, Lazarenko was appointed a head of agricultural department of Tsarychanka Raion. From 1985 to 1987 he worked as a Communist Party functionary in Tsarychanka Raion, and from 1987 to 1990, Lazarenko worked for the Communist Party of

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ( uk, Дніпропетро́вська о́бласть, translit=Dnipropetrovska oblast), also referred to as Dnipropetrovshchyna ( uk, Дніпропетро́вщина), is an oblast (province) of central-eastern Ukra ...

in agricultural production and food industry sectors. In February 1990, he was elected as head of Agro-Industrial Complex of

Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

In August 1991, shortly following the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, Lazarenko was chosen as First Deputy Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. In March 1992,

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk ( uk, Леонід Макарович Кравчук; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed ...

appointed Lazarenko as Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.Hometown might not vote for 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. ...

(11 December 2009) Lazarenko's candidacy was nominated by the council of working groups conference of the Dnipropetrovsk State Agrarian University, whose decision was supported by over 200 groups.

, then a People's Deputy, at that time proposed

, who would also later become Prime Minister. Lazarenko remained as Governor until June 1994. Although he sided with incumbent Kravchuk in the

1994 Ukrainian presidential election Early presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 26 June 1994, with a second round on 10 July. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 They were held ahead of schedule following a compromise between Pre ...

, he managed to establish close ties with the election winner, Leonid Kuchma.

First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine

At the recommendation of the

Yevhen Marchuk Yevhen Kyrylovych Marchuk ( uk, Євге́н Кири́лович Марчу́к; 28 January 1941 – 5 August 2021) was a Ukrainian politician, intelligence officer, and general who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Ukraine after its indep ...

, Kuchma appointed Lazarenko the First Vice Prime Minister for Energy Affairs on 5 September 1995.Rutland, 173 As the government official in energy affairs, he was charged with a task of negotiating gas supplies with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. Already next year in 1996, Ukraine reported no debts to the Russian Gazprom for the first since its independence. In 1996 Lazarenko became Doctor of Economic Sciences.

Prime Minister of Ukraine

On 28 May 1996, Kuchma confirmed Lazarenko as the

within the powers stipulated by the existing "Constitutional Agreement". On 10 July 1996, less than two weeks after adopting a new

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine ( uk, Конституція України, translit=Konstytutsiia Ukrainy) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament ...

, 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 ...

approved the appointment of Lazarenko as Prime Minister. On 16 July 1996, Lazarenko survived an attempt on his life when a bomb exploded near his blocked car en route from

Boryspil Boryspil ( uk, Бориспіль, translit. ''Boryspil'') is a city and the administrative center of Boryspil Raion in Kyiv Oblast (region) in northern (central) Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Boryspil urban hromada, one of the hrom ...

airport.

Conflict with the Donetsk Clan and murders of opponents

Lazarenko was involved in a prolonged and bitter struggle for economic domination with the emerging , an industrial and political group based 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 led by

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 ...

. Lazarenko has been linked to the deaths of several of his political opponents, though he has repeatedly denied his involvement in any assassinations. On 3 November 1996, Yevhen Shcherban, a prominent member of the Verkhovna Rada and natural gas executive, was murdered at Donetsk Airport, a few months after the assassination attempt on Lazarenko, which some media sources accused Shcherban of having a role in.Taylor: Firtash blames notorious 1996 murder on ex-premier Lazarenko

(December 3, 2010)The clan from Donetsk PART I
,

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) Following his departure from the office of Prime Minister, Lazarenko also allegedly ordered the assassination of Vadym Hetman, an independent People's Deputy who had been active in economic reform efforts.

Privatisation

While in charge of the Cabinet, Lazarenko reportedly exercised control over many lucrative business projects and speculatively charged 50 percent of profits for his patronage. At that time, he maintained a close business relationship with

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();United Energy Systems of Ukraine, a monopoly that imported Russian natural gas. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' described Lazarenko and Tymoshenko as "the Ukrainian Bonnie and Clyde" for their theft of money in the oil and gas sector. He may have also plotted against Oleksandr Volkov, a close associate of President Kuchma. Reportedly, Volkov became aware of the planned assassination and made a phone call to Lazarenko threatening appropriate revenge.

Corruption

According to a report by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, approximately $200,000,000 was looted by Lazarenko from the government of Ukraine during his tenure in office.Kravets, David. "Former Ukraine leader ordered to prison." ''Associated Press'', 25 August 2006
(Accessed: 4 November 2013
/ref> Lazarenko is reported to have abused his official authority as Prime Minister of Ukraine to extort nearly 50% of businessman Peter Kiritchenko's $60 million in profits. Lazarenko then ordered him to assist in laundering the proceeds to accounts in Poland, Switzerland, Antigua, and eventually in the United States, where a shell company was used to conceal his property purchases. Kiritchenko pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of stolen property and agreed to testify against Lazarenko. In 1998, he made unlawful transfers of $2.3 million from one Dugsbery account at WestAmerica Bank, which can be traced back to Mr. Lazarenko's Lady Lake bank account in the Bahamas, to an account at Bank Boston Robertson Stevens. Both the funds in this account and those in a San Francisco EuroFed can be traced back to Lazarenko's CARPO-53 account, where he deposited funds from the Naukovy fraud and from his extortion of Mr. Kiritchenko's funds. In total, Lazarenko was found to have laundered over $15 million from his Swiss bank account which ultimately ended up in Kiritchenko's EuroFed accounts in San Francisco. A Geneva court in June 2000 tried and convicted Lazarenko ''in absentia'' for laundering $6.6 million in illicit proceeds. In a special investigative report conducted by Kelly Carr and Brian Grow, two

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 ...

journalists, it is stated that Lazarenko "was once ranked the eighth-most corrupt official in the world by watchdog group

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

" and that "Court records submitted in Lazarenko's criminal case and documents from a separate civil lawsuit, as well as interviews with lawyers familiar with the matter, indicate Lazarenko controls a shelf company incorporated in

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

that owns an estimated $72 million in real estate in Ukraine through other companies". Lazarenko's shelf corporation is reportedly named Capital Investments Group. He acquired the majority of his illegal funds through his activities in the gas and energy sector of Ukraine, both as Vice Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and as Prime Minister. He was reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to have been guilty of money laundering in the United States, and has routinely been on Transparency International's lists of most corrupt officials. In the 2004

Global Corruption Report The Global Corruption Report is one of Transparency International's flagship publications, bringing together experts from all over the world to discuss and analyze corruption in a specific sector. Reports have focused on corruption in climate change ...

, Lazarenko made it into the list of the World's Most Corrupt Leaders. He was listed eighth, and was said to have amassed between $114 million to $200 million.

Fall from power

By mid-1997, Lazarenko had fallen out of favour with Kuchma, who suspected him of making plans to run for president in the

1999 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October 1999, with a second round on 14 November. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1976. The result was a victory for Leonid Kuchma, who defeated Petr ...

. Kuchma later regretted Lazarenko's appointment as his "gravest mistake". Lazarenko, who had no previous record of serious illness, was unexpectedly hospitalised in late June 1997. It has been alleged that he spent the two weeks of the leave for the sickness in vain attempts to mend fences with Kuchma. Technically, under the Ukrainian labour code law, a hospitalized individual may not be terminated from his position. However, when his dismissal became imminent, Lazarenko resigned on 2 July 1997, on his own initiative. In the

1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 29 March 1998. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 The Communist Party of Ukraine remained the largest party in the Verkhovna Rada, winning 121 of the 445 ...

, he was once again elected to the Verkhovna Rada from electoral district No. 40 of

as part of Hromada party. In the Verkhovna Rada, Lazarenko became a leader of the Hromada parliamentary faction. Hromada frequently sided with

Socialist Party of Ukraine The Socialist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціалістична Партія України, translit=Sotsialistychna Partiia Ukrayiny, SPU) was a social democratic and democratic socialist political party in Ukraine. It was one of the oldest par ...

Oleksandr Moroz Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Morozrussian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Моро́з, translit=Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Moroz (born 29 February 1944) is a Ukrainian politician. He was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada twice, ...

Flight from Ukraine and criminal charges

In December 1998, Lazarenko was arrested in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland as he entered the country on a Panamanian passport. Lazarenko was charged with money laundering, and indicted. However, he was released on bail shortly afterwards, and fled Europe to the

in 1999, fearing retribution from Kuchma after his fall from grace. In February 1999, shortly after arriving in the United States, Lazarenko was again arrested, this time on charges of visa irregularities. This case soon expanded to cover Lazarenko's various crimes, and he was eventually convicted of extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud in 2004, and sentenced to 9 years in federal prison on 25 August 2006. On 18 October 2006, an appeal stemming from Lazarenko's conviction (but not the appeal of the conviction) was heard by a three-judge panel of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

, which included former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor sitting by designation. Lazarenko was incarcerated at the

Federal Correctional Institution The Federal Bureau of Prisons classifies prisons into seven categories: * United States penitentiaries * Federal correctional institutions * Private correctional institutions * Federal prison camps * Administrative facilities * Federal correctio ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, California. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer cut Lazarenko's sentence from 108 to 97 months in prison on 19 November 2009. The court took into account that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had dismissed approximately half the counts he was convicted of, leaving convictions only for acts committed 17 years previously. In November 2009, Interior Minister of Ukraine

Yuriy Lutsenko Yuriy Vitaliyovych Lutsenko ( uk, Юрій Віталійович Луценко; born 14 December 1964) is a Ukrainian politician whose most recent post was Prosecutor General of Ukraine from 12 May 2016FCI Terminal Island until 1 November 2012.Media: Lazarenko detained again due to uncertain status for staying in U.S.

(2 November 2012) Following the end of his sentence, he applied for residency in the United States, citing the 2011 arrest of Yulia Tymoshenko, who was coincidentally a close ally of Lazarenko as Prime Minister.PRESS: Lazarenko could be deported from U.S.
Interfax-Ukraine (4 November 2013) According to Lazarenko's defense lawyer

Viktor Chevhuz The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * Victor (1951 film), ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * Victor (1993 film), ...

, the

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and immigration system. It is a successor to the Immigration and Naturalizati ...

were to deal with this application by the end of 2013. Chevhuz claimed that this could lead to the demand to Lazarenko to leave the country within 72 hours with the right to fly anywhere, or, "A deportation to a country from which he arrived -

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, because there is no extradition treaty with Ukraine". Chevhuz further expected Lazarenko to not return to Ukraine "as the criminal cases against him, which had been previously dropped, may be reopened". Immediately after his 1 November 2012 release, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine stated that as soon as Lazarenko would return to Ukraine he would be arrested for his involvement in around 50 criminal cases. In 2012, Prosecutor General of Ukraine

Viktor Pshonka Viktor Pavlovych Pshonka ( uk, Віктор Павлович Пшонка, Russian: Виктор Павлович Пшонка, born 6 February 1954, Serhiyivtsi, Sloviansk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR) is a former Prosecutor Gene ...

announced the involvement of Lazarenko, alongside Tymoshenko, in the murder of Yevhen Shcherban and Alexander Momot in 1996, and the assassination of banker Vadym Hetman. Lazarenko formerly owned a $6.75 million mansion in Marin County, California, which was purchased with money from the Ukrainian budget. In 2013, US authorities confiscated the mansion, in connection with his 2004 money laundering conviction. Authorities have also sanctioned the seizure of a

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

lithograph he is rumoured to possess. As of July 2016, he was living with his wife and children in California, with his application for asylum still pending. Lazarenko was mentioned in the Panama Papers and the

Suisse secrets Suisse secrets was a February 2022 leak of details of more than CHF 100 billion (roughly US$108.5bn, €95.5bn or £80bn) held in nominee accounts linked to over 30,000 clients of Credit Suisse, the largest ever leak from a major Swiss bank. ...

Personal life

Lazarenko was married to his wife Tamara (born 1954) and has one son and two daughters.Short bio
LIGA According to ''

''; at the time of his 1998 arrest in Switzerland, Lazarenko's wife and children were living in a mansion worth US$7 million in

Novato Novato ( Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...

, near

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

.The case of Pavlo Lazarenko: a study of high-level corruption PART II

(24 February 2002) Lazarenko's son is Roman Lazarenko, born 17 April 2001. Lazarenko is currently married to Oksana Tsykova, an attorney in Daniel Horowitz's Law Practice in the California East San Francisco Bay Area, with whom he has 4 children.

In the media

Investigative journalism

Pavlo Lazarenko's activity was investigated by many Ukrainian journalists. Among them the most notable success was achieved by the following ones: * Vadym Klymentyev, deputy editor of the Dnipropetrovsk newspaper "Our City"
"Nashe Misto"
, editor in chief of Dnipropetrovsk municipal newspaper "Zoria". * Mykola Kravchuk, editor in chief of Dnipropetrovsk newspaper "Our City"
"Nashe Misto"
. In 2000 Nikolay Kravchuk, being an editor of an editorial in opposition to Lazarenko, was splashed in the face with acid by an unknown person. Then journalists accused Pavel Lazarenko of the attack. *

Borys Filatov Borys Albertovych Filatov ( uk, Борис Альбертович Філатов; born 7 March 1972, in Dnipropetrovsk) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist, lawyer, businessman, and the current Mayor of Dnipro. In 2014 and 2015 he was a mem ...

, journalist, lawyer, author and host of the television program "The provincial chronicles", which went on air of Dnipropetrovsk 9th channel; in 2010 the TV show called "The provincial forecasts" went on the air of Dnipropetrovsk regional state TV and radio company (51 channel). * Borys Braginsky, a political journalist, first deputy chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk regional organization o
the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine
* Serhiy Leshchenko, a political journalist, deputy editor of the online publication "Ukrainian Truth"
"Ukrainian Pravda"
. * Serhiy Rakhmanin, editor of the Ukrainian policy department of the newspape
"The Mirror of the Week"
a member of the All-Ukrainian commission on journalistic ethics, author and host of "No slogans" program (joint project of "Public Radio" and radio "Continent"). In 2008, according to the results of collective investigative journalism, the book "The Phenomenon of Lazarenko. Villain or Genius?" edited by Vadym Klymentyev was published. It was dedicated to the analysis of the politicians' life course. According to the results of investigations of journalist

two documentaries, that revealed the essence of the charges against Mr. Lazarenko in the U.S., were filmed.
Boris Filatov: Even if Lazarenko is released, he will not return in Ukraine, [http://www.unian.net/ UNIAN], (Accessed:16 November 2009)
'

Awards

Lazarenko is a recipient of the

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise ( uk, Орден князя Ярослава Мудрого) is an award of Ukraine. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, ...

in 1995 and two orders of Saint Volodymyr from the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first Chr ...

References

External links

''American saga Lazarenko''
series of articles about Lazarenko in

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarenko, Pavlo 1953 births Living people People from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Prime Ministers of Ukraine First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Third convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Corruption in Ukraine Ukrainian money launderers Ukrainian people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Hromada (political party) politicians Ukrainian politicians convicted of crimes Soviet agronomists Governors of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast People named in the Panama Papers First vice prime ministers of Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class Heads of government who were later imprisoned Politicians convicted of embezzlement