Yanukovych-era ministers Lavrynovych, Hryshchenko outside Ukraine, declared wanted - State Bureau of Investigations

MOSCOW. July 26 (Interfax) - Former Ukrainian Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych and former Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko, who are treated as suspects in an investigation into the conclusion of the 2010 Ukrainian-Russian Kharkiv Accords, have left Ukraine and have been declared wanted, Ukrainian media have reported with reference to the State Bureau of Investigations.

"Indeed, the investigation has learned that the former Ukrainian foreign minister left Ukraine and departed for Paris in January this year. And the former justice minister left Ukraine in May," State Bureau of Investigations spokesperson Tetyana Sapyan said on the Ukrainian TV marathon.

Lavrynovych's and Hryshchenko's whereabouts are currently being identified and are seen as a pretrial investigation secret, she said.

"However, both people implicated in a criminal case dealing with treason have been put on the national and international wanted lists. The next stage will be obtaining a court sanction for their detention," Sapyan said.

Once this is done, a request will be filed on taking the two into pretrial custody, she said.

"Simultaneously, investigators from the State Bureau of Investigations will request the extradition of these persons and the issuance of Interpol Red Notices for them," she said.

As reported earlier, the Ukrainian law enforcement system notified Hryshchenko and Lavrynovych in absentia of treating them as treason suspects.

"The investigation has found that, in April 2010, the suspects, being part of a group acting in collusion with the former president and prime minister to the detriment of Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability, defense capability, state and economic security, in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution and the law On International Treaties of Ukraine, unconditionally agreed upon a draft treaty between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in our state's territory, without its actual revision by agencies concerned and without conducting its mandatory legal expert analysis," the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said.