Uzhgorod customs seize Baloha’s plane

April07200920:45

Customs officials in Uzhgorod filed a criminal case against the pilot of foreign-owned Learjet-60 for violating customs regulations and seized the plane, Zakarpattya oblast sheriff Pavlo Kononenko told journalists Apr. 7.

The plane was used by Yushchenko’s chief of staff Viktor Baloha to fly to Uzhgorod.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Hennady Moskal demanded to check the legality of the plane landing in Uzhgorod. The police readdressed the demand to the customs and rendered them protection to check the required documents, Kononenko explained.

According to customs officials, the plane had no permission to land in Uzhgorod as it was registered for an international Praha-Kyiv-Praha flight. The pilot, a US citizen Hennady Holovatsky, faces criminal charges for bending customs rules. His plane was seized by the customs, searched and is kept at the Uzhgorod international airport.

Simultaneoulsy, lawmaker Moskal asked the Security Service, Foreign Intelligence Service, State Tax Administration and Customs to tell him why Pres Yushchenko’s chief of staff was flying on a contraband plane owned by one of Utah banks and also why the bearer of state secrets was being serviced by a US citizen. The plane owners were not registered as businessmen or tax payers in Ukraine and unlawfully used the plane to fly domestic routes.