Ukraine’s Tymoshenko charged with tax evasion

11/11/11 18:09 CET

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KIEV, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Former Ukrainian prime

minister Yulia Tymoshenko, already sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of office, has been charged with tax evasion, theft and concealing foreign currency revenues, the State Tax

Administration said on Friday.

The charges are linked to her activities as the head of gas trading firm, United Energy Systems of Ukraine, it said in a statement, a post she held in the 1990s. Tymoshenko has denied all earlier charges against her and said her trial reflected a political vendetta waged by President

Viktor Yanukovich, who narrowly beat her in a presidential vote last year. Echoing her position, the European Union has warned Ukraine it may not sign planned bilateral deals on political association and free trade if Tymoshenko remains in jail.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

REUTERS

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