Former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova and partner of Petro Poroshenko, oligarch Volodymyr Plahotniuc, has applied for political asylum in Ukraine.
Such a statement was made by the head of the Moldovan “Our Party” Renato Usatii.
He explained Plahotniuc’s aspiration by the fact that Ukraine does not extradite people to Russia, where a fugitive Moldovan oligarch appears in a number of criminal cases, including those related to the organization of a criminal association, as well as drug smuggling on a large scale.
Usatii noted that the request was made recently, but Plahotniuc cannot leave the United States, as this would lead to the cancellation of his asylum request in the United States. The oligarch now lives in a luxurious mansion in Miami, the Moldovan politician said, adding that Plahotniuc promised to buy the house, but never kept his promises.
As News Front reported earlier, the Democratic Party of Moldova, headed by Plahotniuc, refused to recognize the coalition between the Party of Socialists and the pro-Western bloc “ACUM”, which was formed after the parliamentary elections.
In this regard, the PDM began to destabilize the country by launching mass protests. The situation was settled with the support of Russia, the European Union and the United States, which forced the Democrats to recognize the new government. Since then, Plahotniuc has been on the run. The Moldovan authorities declared him an interstate wanted list.