She is probably well known to people of a bit older age: the Ukrainian politician Julija Tymoschenko – for many years she wore a blonde braid artfully wrapped around her head, which became her trademark.
Since this week, the 65-year-old has once again had problems with her neck. Published on Wednesday National Anti-Corruption Authority of Ukraine (NABU) Recordings of a conversation between Tymoshenko and a member of parliament. It’s about the behavior in an upcoming vote on the Ministers of Defense and Digital Transformation, Denys Shmyhal and Mykhailo Fedorov.
Tymoshenko, head of the opposition Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) faction, said: “You pay ten for two meetings”. The vote is yes for dismissals, but no for appointments. Tymoshenko cites the reason for “smashing” the current majority and “leaving it no room for maneuver.”
Ukrainian media had already reported on Tuesday Corruption allegations against Tymoshenko and house searches in Batkivshchyna’s offices reported. On Wednesday, Tymoshenko confirmed this information. More than 30 heavily armed men, without presenting any documents, “practically occupied the building and took employees hostage. She categorically rejects all of these absurd accusations,” she is quoted as saying.
Tymoshenko was born in the industrial city of Dnipro (until 2016 Dnipropetrovsk) and grew up there. After completing her studies in economics in 1984, her marriage and the birth of a daughter, Tymoschenko initially worked in a mechanical engineering company in Dnipropetrovsk. She founded a video rental company with her husband. After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, both entered the oil business. In 1995, Tymoshenko became head of the energy company “United Energy Systems of Ukraine” (EESU).
Multiple investigations
Two years later, she became a member of the national parliament (Verkhovna Rada) for the first time. She founded the party alliance Byut (Julya Tymoschenko Bloc), in whose name she was involved Wiktor Juschtschenko signed an agreement. As a result of the Orange Revolution When she was elected president in 2004, Yulia, as her compatriots call her, became Ukraine’s first female head of government.
In September 2005, the government was dismissed and the public prosecutor’s office initiated several investigations against Tymoshenko – primarily because of her work for the EESU. After two years in opposition, she became prime minister again in 2007. Three years later, she runs in the presidential elections (as in 2014 and 2019) and loses to the pro-Russian candidate Wiktor Janukowitsch.
In 2011, she was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay the equivalent of 141 million euros in compensation to the Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftogaz for concluding a gas deal with Russia that was unfavorable to Kyiv. In 2014, after the Revolution of Dignity, she was released. Unforgettable is the moment when she – sitting in a wheelchair on a stage – made her political return.
The latest allegations could put an end to further ambitions. By the way: When President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wanted to rein in several anti-corruption authorities last summer, Tymoshenko voted for the law. When this was withdrawn a few days later, she voted against this decision. Still questions?