Accomplice of fugitive oligarch Kurchenko arrested in Greece at Ukraine’s request
Russian energy specialist Yevgeny Kalinin was arrested in Greece at Ukraine’s request on Saturday 2 March, RIA Novosti reports.
According to his attorney, Yannis Rachiotis, the Russian was on a business trip in Greece, and was detained at the Athens airport on 28 February.
At the end of hearings on Friday, the court ruled that Kalinin is to be detained until Greece receives an extradition request from Ukraine.
The Russian is wanted by Ukraine for violating local tax laws during his work in the country, Rachiotis explained.
“However, this case is political. Kalinin is on the list of the well-known site Myrotvorets. He is being persecuted because he supported former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych,” the attorney claimed, noting that he has already made this known to the prosecutor’s office.
The Myrotvorets website states that Kalinin is wanted by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry and disappeared from the country on 29 May 2017. According to the Interior Ministry’s wanted persons list, Kalinin is accused of creating a criminal organization, forgery and tax evasion.
Yevgeny Kalinin is the former CEO of the East European Fuel and Energy Company (VETEK), and started working for Serhiy Kurchenko in 2011. In March 2014, when the runaway oligarch was placed on the international wanted list at Ukraine’s request, Kalinin resigned from VETEK.