Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The couple's residence is listed as the premises of a firm that trades in ready-made companies.
Former Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who left Ukraine on the night of 14 September, registered in Vienna together with his wife Oleksandra. Their details recently appeared in Austria's Central Register of Places of Residence. However, the address corresponds to an office of a firm that provides legal addresses, reports 'Ukrainian Pravda'.
Extracts from the Austrian register (Zentrales Melderegister, ZMR) were obtained by outlets from political circles. Their primary place of residence is listed as Jordangasse 7/12, 1010 Wien. The building sits in Vienna's historic center, near the palace.
Apartment No. 12 is an office of CS Corporate Services GmbH. On its website the firm offers domiciliation, i.e., a legal address for Austrian S corporations, as well as secretarial services, management services, and sale of already registered companies ready for transfer to a new owner. The first-district address, a few minutes on foot from Stephansplatz, is registered with the commercial court, tax office, and magistrate. Staff receive mail from clients and forward it unopened, scan it, or respond themselves.
Here at least two dozen companies are registered. Among them are structures of well-known international brands, such as Duracell Austria GmbH or KPLER GmbH, but most are little known: Numitor, Febania, Nobeka, Furninet, Code Panda IT Solutions.
The law requires indicating the actual place of residence. In UP's view, this is how the couple could have concealed where they truly live. The registration may also indicate that Kravchenko plans to settle specifically in Austria's capital. Austria does not extradite suspected citizens to Ukraine, so extradition, if it ever happens, will be extremely complicated.
Kravchenko's wife left Ukraine a day earlier than her husband. 12 September she crossed the border on foot from Moldova at the Palanca checkpoint, and the next day she crossed the border from Romania into Leuseni in a Mercedes. According to sources in law enforcement cited by UP, she did not buy air tickets. Kravchenko himself crossed the border 14 September at 2:19 at the Shumsk (Schengen) checkpoint with a driver registered as an individual entrepreneur in transportation. The Mercedes V-class minivan he traveled in runs premium international passenger services to order. Shortly before this, he had been abroad with a Western diplomat. Kravchenko did not buy plane tickets from Poland either and, like his wife, could reach Vienna by car.
One of the influential prosecutors, off the record, described the state of affairs in the Office of the Prosecutor General as: 'The prosecutor's office is paralyzed.' The figures in the 'Karagen' operation involving NABU and SAP mostly go to interrogations and are compelled to cooperate with investigators. From the former head, they expected otherwise. 'He was supposed to pull his people out, help, support,' a source told UP. Whether Kravchenko indeed fled because of his role in the exposed criminal group remains uncertain.
Vienna already hosts the former head of the Constitutional Court Oleksandr Tupytsky, the former head of the National Bank Kyrylo Shevchenko, the former parliament member Andriy Kholodov, and others. One official, speaking to the author, joked: 'Almost there, a whole Ukrainian government in exile could gather in Vienna.'
The Center for Combating Corruption stated that the prosecutor general's departure was possible with the president's permission. Kravchenko himself explained the trip as a five-day business trip to Paris, which he arranged himself on 13 September, supposedly to participate in PACE hearings. The delegation ended on 18 September, but he did not return to work and, on 21 September, submitted a resignation letter from the prosecutor's office.
The scandal erupted after the 'Karagen' operation. 4 September NABU and SAP announced the uncovering of a group that masked fraudulent call centers and extorted from them from 20 to 24 dollars per month. The first to be detained was OG Prosecutor Serhiy Kropyva. On released recordings, the 'Boss' by patronymic Andriyovych is mentioned, who once headed the tax service, as did Kravchenko. About why this story went far beyond the conflict between two agencies, Ukrainian outlet ZN.UA's Inna Vedernikova wrote in her article 'Runner's Syndrome. How not to turn a country into a meme'.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Ексгенпрокурор Кравченко отримав прописку в центрі Відня". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.