Yevhen Oleksandrovych Shcherban (, 18 January 1946 – 3 November 1996) was a Ukrainian businessman and politician.Taylor: Firtash blames notorious 1996 murder on ex-premier Lazarenko

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

(December 3, 2010) As a member of the Liberal Party of Ukraine, he was elected to the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

from the Volnovakha electoral district in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. He served as the

People's Deputy of Ukraine A people's deputy of Ukraine (, ) is a member of parliament and legislator elected by Direct election, popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine. They are often referred to simply as "deputies". Prior to 1991, the Verkhovna R ...

from 1994 until his

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

in 1996.The clan from Donetsk PART I
, The Ukrainian Weekly (January 12, 2003)

Biography

Yevhen Oleksandrovych Shcherban was born in the village of Kostyantynivka, Krasnokutsk Raion on 18 January 1948. From 1972-77 he studied at the Mining Industrial College in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

, and later at Donetsk National Technical University. 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for the Liberal Party of Ukraine.

Death

Shcherban and his wife Nadezhda (née Nikitina) were shot dead on a runway at Donetsk Airport on 3 November 1996 by several men posing as public force officers.

Trial

Among the killers were Vadim Bolotskikh, Gennadiy Zangelidi and others. Prosecutors have stated the murder was intended to eliminate competition for control of the

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

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 (no relation to Yevhen) with the former Minister of Coal Industry of Ukraine Serhiy Polyakov and the appointment of

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

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 (ISD) was established. Nominally headed by Serhiy Taruta, many saw the real leader of the Union as Yevhen Shcherban. Preceding that, in October 1995,

Akhat Bragin Akhat (Alexander) Khafizovich (Sergeevich) Bragin (, , ; 1953 — 15 October 1995) was a Ukraine, Ukrainian businessman of Volga Tatars, Volga Tatar descent. He was a mafia figure of the Donetsk Oblast and later the president of the football club ...

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

Shcherban Affair

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko was implicated in Shcherban's murder by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Svyatoslav Piskun in January 2003. Piskun was fired from the office of Prosecutor General by two presidents of Ukraine,

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

and

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

, but both dismissals were voided by the courts. Since late October 2011 former Prime Minister

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( Hrihyan born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She has been ...

has also been implicated, particularly by the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin.Ukraine to investigate Tymoshenko over murder-report

(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

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in which he implied he had new evidence in the case.Prosecutors escalate accusations against Yulia Tymoshenko

(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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 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. 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. 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.”

References