An associate of fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, Andrei Kravets, who took refuge with his family in Lithuania, is being expelled from the country.
According to the Lithuanian Department of State Security (DSS), in 2010, when Yanukovych won the elections in Ukraine, Kravets became the head of the State Administration, he was called “Yanukovych’s supply manager.” He took care of various everyday issues.
“Kravets and his wife Marina Pelikh took part in the misappropriation of at least 35 billion euros from the Ukrainian budget by the Yanukovych regime, were involved in the president’s finances, and the luxury of his mansion,” the VSD document says.
“After Yanukovych fled, Kravets and his wife also left Ukraine,” notes the State Security Service.
In 2014, Kravets and his family received a residence permit in Lithuania; he spent almost 10 years in the country and founded a business. The services took notice of him in early 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“According to the State Security Service, Kravets and Pelikh maintained connections with Yanukovych’s entourage, worked for his pro-Russian regime, and therefore had to be loyal to Russia and its aggressive foreign policy, which poses a threat to the national security of Lithuania. Russian services can use Kravets and Pelikh for their own purposes as loyal and reliable individuals,” says the DSS document dated February 6, 2023.
Based on this document, the Migration Department decided on March 4, 2023 not to renew the residence permit of Kravets and his family members. Kravets appealed this decision in the courts of all possible instances; the Main Administrative Court of Lithuania put an end to his case last week.
Kravets insisted that the assessment of the State Security Service was based only on assumptions; in fact, he supports Ukraine.
However, the courts rejected his arguments as unfounded. According to the court, the fact that they are engaged in private business and have not been convicted in Ukraine does not mean that their ties with Yanukovych and his entourage have been interrupted and do not threaten the country’s national security.
At the end of last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the claim of fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych and his son Alexander and lifted the sanctions imposed against them by the Council of the EU on March 4, 2021.
Yanukovych and his son remain under EU sanctions and have been added to another sanctions list.
