Yevhen Shcherban was a Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 businessman and politician from the Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk Oblast

Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...

.

In the mid-1990s

1990s

File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

, Shcherban was among the richest people in Ukraine and prominent and influential member of parliament for the Liberal Party of Ukraine

Liberal Party of Ukraine

The Liberal Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, led by Volodymyr Shcherban. It was established in September 1991 and was officially registered the next month. It is based mainly on Donets Basin area...

. He and his wife were assassinated at Donetsk Airport

Donetsk Airport

Donetsk International Airport is an airport in Donetsk, Ukraine. It was built in the 1940s-1950s and rebuilt in 1973.The airline Donbassaero has its head office located at the airport.-Airlines and destinations:-External links:/ / /...

 in November 1996 by several men posing as police officers. Prosecutors have stated the murder was intended to eliminate competition for control of Ukraine’s natural gas industry. In 2002, eight men were arrested and tried for the murder. All of them were found guilty, with three receiving life sentences.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko

Pavlo Lazarenko

Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko is a former Ukrainian politician and former Prime Minister who, in August 2006, was convicted and sentenced to prison in the United States for money laundering, wire fraud and extortion...

 has been implicated in the murder of Shcherban. Since late October 2011 former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Tymoshenko

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...

also. Since late October 2011 Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating whether Tymoshenko and Lazarenko were involved in the murder of Shcherban.