Andriy Kliuyev / Photo from UNIAN

Andriy Kliuyev, who once headed the presidential administration during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency, has been denied registration as a candidate running for the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) says the decision is based on the fact that Kliuyev has not been residing in Ukraine since 2014, according to NGO OPORA's report on Facebook.

However, a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine on whose behalf Kliuyev's documents had been submitted for the registration insists that Kliuyev has been living in Donetsk for the past five years, and Donetsk is Ukrainian territory. Therefore, the representative says, there were no grounds to deny the registration.

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Donetsk has been occupied by Russia since May 2014.

Read alsoYanukovych's ally Kliuyev wants to run for parliament in Ukraine, files documents to CEC

During Yanukovych's presidency, Andriy Kliuyev worked as first deputy prime minister, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and headed Yanukovych's office. In Ukraine, Kliuyev is under investigation. He is suspected of large-scale embezzlement and abuse of office from May 2010 to April 2011. Kyiv's Pechersky district court has allowed the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to launch a special, pretrial investigation into Kliuyev's case.

According to the SBU, Kliuyev has been residing in Moscow region, Russia, since 2014.

In 2014, Kliuyev was sanctioned by the European Union, the United States, and Canada. His assets were frozen. In March 2019, the EU removed Kliuyev from the sanctions list since the sanctions against him were lifted in February the same year.

The parliamentary elections are scheduled for July 21.