The National Anticorruption Case (NAC) has opened a case on one of the leaders of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Ihor Kononenko, following the allegations made against him by Economic Development Minister Aivaras Abromavicius.
"Right now, today we are registering criminal proceedings within the framework of this case. The minister's public statement is enough for this. And we are launching an investigation," NAC deputy head Gizo Uglava said in a comment for Novoye Vremya.
Abromavicius earlier said that over the year Kononenko had been lobbying for his people to be nominated as heads of a number of state companies.
"The peak of this HR arbitrariness and striving to fully subdue the flows is his wish to have his own deputy in the Economic Development Ministry in charge of [Ukrainian oil and gas company] Naftohaz [Ukrayiny] and other state companies," he said.
Kononenko dismissed the minister's allegations as an attempt to shift responsibility for his failures as minister.
At a recent news conference President Petro Poroshenko said that he had extended his personal invitation to Uglava to come and work in Ukraine. Kononenko is the president's long-time friend.