Organizer of Viktor Yanukovich's election campaign found dead in Kiev

According to the official version, the minister committed suicide 

Georgy Kirpa, the Ukrainian Transport Minister, was found dead in his country-house on the outskirts of Kiev on December 27th. The reason of the minister's death is not known, although the police believe that Kirpa was one of the most important figures in Viktor Yanukovich's election campaign. He supposedly knew, where the money was coming from.

Officials of the Ukrainian Transport Ministry knew about the money, which was assigned for the construction of a large bridge in Kiev. The money was transferred, but the construction did not start – the funds were supposedly spent on Viktor Yanukovich's election campaign, the Vremya Novostei newspaper wrote.

It was Georgy Kirpa, who organized a trip of Donetsk miners to Kiev – the trip was timed to the second election round. Train conductor Oksana said that the train car was filled with boxes of vodka for miners: “Someone intentionally wanted to make them drink,” said she. The workers said in their turn that each of them had been paid 200 hryvnas (a little less than $40) for their trip to Kiev.

Ivan Sali, a high-ranking official from the Transport Ministry said that Georgy Kirpa's death could be connected with the embezzlement of state funds, which Kirpa was in charge of. Deputy Yuri Lutsenko stated yesterday that Georgy Kirpa wired $130 million of advance payment for the construction of the bridge across the Dnepr River. It was also said that Kirpa and Prime Minister Yanukovich, fraudulently organized a private railway company.

According to the official version, Georgy Kirpa committed suicide. Police officers found a gun near the minister's body in his country house. It is also known that the minister's wife left the house several hours before the crime, and the official talked to an unknown person on the telephone. Investigators do not exclude that Georgy Kirpa has been assassinated. It is worth mentioning that a priest visited the minister's country-house for the burial service, although the Orthodox religion bans such services for suicides.

Nikolai Tomenko, a deputy of the Ukrainian parliament said that such incidents may repeat in the future “when those aware of the government's illegal activities, the presidential election fraud in particular, suddenly disappear.” Tomenko is certain that the minister has been murdered: “I think that Kirpa as a witness could have told the authorities a lot,” the deputy said.