Viktor Pinchuk
The British newspaper Independent reports on the circumstances of a lawsuit between Ukrainian oligarchs, currently being heard in a London court over a $2 billion dispute. This was reported by Ukrainski Novyny.
According to the publication, Gennady Bogolyubov, a resident of London's Belgravia district, recently accused Viktor Pinchuk of pressuring witnesses in the case and requested permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings. One of the witnesses allegedly pressured is former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun.
"But Pinchuk's team, in response to the accusations, made explosive claims in the High Court that [the former Prosecutor General] had previously helped cover up assassination attempts ordered by Bogolyubov's business partner, Ihor Kolomoisky. Pinchuk is also suing Kolomoisky in a $2 billion case related to the ownership of an iron ore complex. Pinchuk's team claims that Kolomoisky ordered an attack on a Ukrainian lawyer for refusing to leak information from a client. It is alleged that members of the gang, mistakenly identified, brutally beat one of the lawyer's colleagues before attacking the "right" person," the publication states.
According to the publication's author, Jim Armitage, Kolomoisky "then orchestrated the murder of the assailants who failed to carry out their mission... and attempted to cover up the killings." Pinchuk's lawyers claim that shortly after the attack on the lawyer, Kolomoisky's bodyguard, S. Nikitin, who allegedly orchestrated the attack, was found dead in a river.
The leader of the gang involved in the attacks was also found dead with slit wrists. In both cases, no autopsy was performed, and the leader's death was ruled a suicide by slitting his wrists. Pinchuk's defense stated that the presence of a gunshot wound under his chin was apparently ignored.
As for S. Nikitin, his body, on which (according to official documents) no injuries were found, was later exhumed and 10 stab wounds were found on it.
The statement from Pinchuk's team cites an official decision by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, according to which "I.V. Kolomoisky threatened [the lawyer] with murder, and a few days later, when [the lawyer] did not comply with I.V. Kolomoisky's demands, the latter decided to kill [the lawyer] in retaliation for not following his instructions."
It goes on to say the following: “in order to carry out his criminal intent, he asked S. Nikitin, an employee of his personal security, to organize the murder... thus, V.I. Kolomoisky entered into a criminal conspiracy with S. Nikitin and ordered the premeditated murder [of the lawyer] to be carried out.”
"A petition for Kolomoisky's arrest was filed, but Prosecutor General Piskun annulled it after Kolomoisky's intermediary contacted him or asked him to do so, according to Pinchuk's team. Pinchuk insists that the former prosecutor's willingness to close the investigation into Kolomoisky means that Piskun's allegations of Pinchuk pressuring him to change his testimony cannot be taken into account in the current dispute," the British publication writes.
Bogolyubov's representatives responded by claiming that Prosecutor General Piskun categorically denies accepting a bribe from Kolomoisky to close the investigation, and that, in any event, he was not involved in making decisions on current work matters. Bogolyubov's lawyer stated that the investigation into Kolomoisky was closed after Piskun suspected the accused billionaire was the victim of political intrigue. He ordered a review of the case, which led the investigator to conclude that the case against Kolomoisky should be closed.
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