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Ukrainian ex-president says ready to take lie detector test on TV

Earlier on Monday, Poroshenko was questioned over a suspected tax evasion scheme associated with the purchase and sale of the Pryamoi TV channel
Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko  AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko
© AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

KIEV, August 12. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko is ready to take a lie detector test on TV, as he himself said on Monday.

"As for State Bureau of Investigations [SBI] chief Roman Truba’s statement about a lie detector test, I am ready for it, but let the test take pace not at the SBI office but in the live studio of the Pryamoi TV channel," Poroshenko said, following a questioning over suspected tax evasion concerning the TV channel’s sale.

According to the ex-president, he did not trust the SBI and its top officials. "I doubt the impartiality of the investigation," Poroshenko said. "When I made this suggestion, they weren't very enthusiastic about it," he added.

The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) chief Roman Truba stated earlier on Monday that Poroshenko may be put through a lie detector test during the next questioning. "Today, Pyotr Poroshennko was questioned over suspected tax evasion concerning the sale of the Pryamoi TV channel. We don’t rule out that the next questioning will involve a lie detector," Truba wrote on Telegram.

He added that it was no big deal. "All our personnel go through such a psychophysiological test every year," he noted.

A SBI spokesperson told reporters following Poroshenko’s questioning that the ex-president had been summoned as a witness. "He was questioned as a witness in two cases, no charges have been brought against him yet," the spokesperson said, adding that she could not comment on other cases. She also said that the date of Poroshenko’s next questioning would be announced in due time.

Earlier on Monday, Poroshenko was questioned over a suspected tax evasion scheme associated with the purchase and sale of the Pryamoi TV channel. The questioning took place at the SBI office. The case is based on a complaint filed by attorney Andrei Portnov who served as deputy chief of the presidential staff under Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. He accused Poroshenko of money laundering committed during the takeover of the Pryamoi TV channel. According to Portnov, Poroshenko took control of the TV channel by registering it to an offshore company fictitiously owned by a former Party of Regions member Vladimir Makeyenko.