Ukraine Made No Guarantees For UESU's Obligations To Russia's Defense Ministry, Says Tymoshenko's Defense Lawyer

KIEV, Ukraine -- There are no state guarantees on the obligations of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation to the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation, according to the defense lawyer of former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko, Serhiy Vlasenko. "There are no guarantees of the Ukrainian state for the UESU's obligations to the Defense Ministry. If the Justice Ministry does not know this, I have to inform them that government guarantees are included by finance ministries in the state budget," Vlasenko told reporters on Monday near Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv, where his client is undergoing treatment. According to him, should there be such guarantees, then all these 16 years, these guarantees would be taken into account in the state budgets of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. "These budgets are approved by parliaments and fulfilled by finance ministries. If these guarantees existed, then for sure, Russia would have already made such claims to Ukraine, and would not silently wait for 16 years," the lawyer said. As reported, the Russian Defense Ministry filed at Kiev Economic Court a lawsuit against the Ukrainian government for the non-payment of UAH 3.239 billion ($400 million) under a criminal case on the activities of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) Corporation. Russia demanded the summoning of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the State Treasury Service of Ukraine as defendants in the case. The UESU is the third party on the side of the defendant in the case. Meanwhile, a district court in Kharkiv is hearing the criminal case against former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko on the activities of the UESU. The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO) has filed a lawsuit against Tymoshenko with the demand that she pay UAH 19.5 million ($2.4 million) under the UESU case. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said that the UESU case against Tymoshenko was illegally closed in 2005 under pressure from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko, following the appointment of Tymoshenko as prime minister. Ukraine's United Opposition said it believes that the reports about the UESU's debt to the Russian Defense Ministry are the attempt by the authorities to discredit Tymoshenko on the eve of the parliamentary elections.