Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash will be detained in the event of his return to Ukraine in connection with a relevant request by the United States Department of Justice, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said.

"According to Article 597 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, as well as the UN Convention against Corruption ratified by Ukraine in 2006, and in response to a relevant petition of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine will order the national police of Ukraine to detain Dmytro Firtash for 72 hours in the case of his arrival in Ukraine during which a ruling will be made on his 40-day arrest, until the handover the case materials…" Avakov wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.

According to him, the Interior Ministry has information that Firtash, for whom Interpol issued a "Red Notice", will soon return to Ukraine.

The minister said that as the result of the consultations with the U.S. counterparts, and with the support of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, he sent an official letter to the U.S. side notifying them that in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine a citizen of Ukraine cannot be extradited to another state, but that Ukraine can take over the criminal proceedings against him. He said that this applies to citizens of Ukraine who committed offenses abroad, if these offences are qualified as crimes by the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the minister said.

"The actions, of which Firtash is accused [in the U.S.], are also considered a criminal offense in Ukraine," Avakov said in his letter.