Renat Kuzmin

Renat Kuzmin in 2013

Renat Ravelievich Kuzmin is the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

Early years

Renat Kuzmin was born on July 12, 1967 in Donetsk. In 1991 he graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Law in Kharkiv.

Professional experience

• in 1984-1986 Renat Kuzmin worked as an inspector of Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office. Then he served two years in the Soviet Army
• 1988 to 1991 - Renat Kuzmin worked as legal adviser at the Donetsk manufacturing and trading textile association. After that he was on probation during one year at the Donetsk city Prosecutor's office for nature protection and Leninsky district Prosecutor of Donetsk city
• In May 1992 Renat Kuzmin was appointed the deputy of the Prosecutor of Leninsky district in Donetsk city

Then Renat Kuzmin was appointed the Deputy Prosecutor of Voroshilovsky district in Donetsk city, was the head Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's office for nature protection, was the Prosecutor of the Kirovsky district in Donetsk;

• 1999 - January 2003 Renat Kuzmin was the Makiivka city Head Prosecutor

During the next 10 months he was working as the Deputy Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor.

• in November 2003 Renat Kuzmin was appointed the Head Prosecutor of Kiev city. After the Orange Revolution, in February 2005, he was subject to downgrading and became the deputy prosecutor in Kiev oblast'
• yet, in September 2006, after the establishment of the ruling coalition of Party of Regions, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, Kuzmin became the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
• on November 4, 2010 Renat Kuzmin was appointed the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Viktor Pshonka. He was responsible for management of the board investigation of major cases, for the law enforcement at the transport agencies and in the defense industry.
• on May 12, 2010 Renat Kuzmin was appointed a member of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine, by Presidential decree

Claims

First Renat Kuzmin became known in public thank to then-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko. Lutsenko has repeatedly mentioned public dissatisfaction with the actions (or inactions) of General Prosecutor's office and of Renat Kuzmin in person; Lutsenko accused Prosecutor's office in lack of the progress in the most resonant criminal cases due to corruption and abuse of power in the office. Later, Lutsenko accused Renat Kuzmin of contributing to Lutsenko suspension from his office as Interior Minister in December 2006, of the initiation of a criminal case against him and of the search at Lutsenko' apartment in March 2007.
Other opposition politicians complained about the fact that Renat Kuzmin fulfilled orders of the Party of Regions and "subjugated" the Prosecutor General Oleksandr Medvedko.

Yulia Tymoshenko case

Renat Kuzmin has repeatedly claimed i.a. in the foreign mass-media that in 1996 Yulia Tymoshenko was affiliate to the murder of Yefhen Shcherban, a member of parliament and one of the richest men in Ukraine. Tymoshenko was charged in May 2011 over abuse of office over a natural gas imports contract signed with Russia in January 2009. On 11 October 2011 the court founded Tymoshenko guilty of abuse of power and sentenced her to seven years in jail.

In December 2012, Renat Kuzmin wrote a letter of complaint to U.S. President Barack Obama, about his U.S. visa being revoked.

Titles and awards

• Member of the General Prosecutor's Board of Ukraine
• Member of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine
• PhD in Law
• Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine
• medal "Honored Worker of Prosecution Service of Ukraine"
• medal "For excellent service in the Prosecutor's office", I grade