Former prosecutor general Kravchenko appears to have violated Vienna residency registration rules – UP

Former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko appears to have violated the rules concerning his registered place of residence after moving to Vienna.

Source: an article by Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach

Details: The address listed in a document from the Austrian register is not Kravchenko's place of residence, as required by law.

Apartment No. 12 in the building at 7 Jordangasse is not a residential property but the office of CS Corporate Services GmbH. On its website, the company offers four services: domiciliation, meaning a registered legal address for Austrian limited liability companies; secretarial services; management services; and the sale of shelf companies that are already registered and ready to be transferred to a new owner.

The description of its domiciliation service says that an address in Vienna's first district, a few minutes' walk from the central square Stephansplatz, is registered with the Commercial Court, tax authorities and municipal authorities, while staff receive clients' post and, on their instructions, forward it unopened, scan it or reply to it themselves.

At least two dozen other legal entities are registered at the same address. They include subsidiaries of genuine international companies such as Duracell Austria GmbH and KPLER GmbH, but most are little-known companies, including Numitor, Febania, Nobeka, Furninet, Code Panda IT Solutions and others.

Kravchenko and his wife may have taken this step to conceal their actual place of residence in Vienna.

Registration in Vienna may also indicate that Kravchenko plans to establish legal residence in the Austrian capital, as it is well known that Austria does not extradite people wanted by Ukraine.

Tkach noted that when speaking to an influential official about the fate of Ukrainian officials in Austria, he had heard a wry comment: "At this rate, Vienna will soon have an entire Ukrainian government-in-exile."

Apart from the prosecutor general, who appears to have registered in Vienna only recently, the city is already home to former constitutional court chairman Oleksandr Tupytskyi, former National Bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, former MP Andrii Kholodov and many other "former" officials who have largely become stranded in one of Europe's best cities for years, either because of the war or to avoid punishment.

"In a city where there are no air-raid warnings, ballistic missiles, notices of suspicion issued by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) or the need to pay bail. In a city that does not extradite people wanted by Ukraine. For now," Tkach added.

Previously: It was reported that Kravchenko had left Ukraine on the night of 13-14 September, travelling abroad in a luxury taxi rather than an official vehicle and crossing the border at the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint.

It is also known that Kravchenko submitted a letter of resignation from the prosecution service. It was accepted, and Kravchenko was dismissed from the prosecution service on 21 September.

Background:

• On 7 September, Kravchenko resigned as prosecutor general amid an investigation by NABU and SAPO into the alleged "protection" of scam call centres.
• On 14 September, Kravchenko said he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU director Semen Kryvonos and accused NABU and SAPO of seizing materials from criminal proceedings against employees of the anti-corruption agencies in the course of searches conducted as part of Operation Carthage.
• According to Ukrainska Pravda sources in law enforcement, Kravchenko left Ukraine in an official car on the night of 13-14 September.
• He said in a statement that he had left to go on an official trip. According to an order by the prosecutor general dated 13 September, a copy of which was seen by Ukrainska Pravda, Kravchenko left for Paris for five days "to take part in PACE hearings on Ukrainian children". However, he was not listed among the speakers on the event agenda.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) to back Kravchenko's dismissal as prosecutor general.
• On 14 September, Zelenskyy signed a decree suspending Kravchenko as prosecutor general. The Verkhovna Rada later voted in favour of his dismissal.
• As of 21 September, Kravchenko, whose official trip abroad ended on 18 September, had not returned to work.

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