KIEV, September 28 - RAPSI. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who is currently serving his sentence in the United States for a money laundering conviction, stated that he is planning to return to his homeland as soon as his term in prison comes to an end on November 1, 2012.

"I will return as soon as I have sorted out all the legal issues. But, you have to understand, my return does not depend on my personal wishes, but the political will of the Ukrainian authorities," Lazarenko said in an interview to Forbes Ukraine, published on Thursday.

Lazarenko has been accused of involvement in the assassination of Yevhen Scherban, Ukrainian MP and Aton financial corporation head, who was shot dead along with his wife and members of the staff at Donetsk airport in 1996.

Lazarenko has firmly denied his involvement in the crime and claims he was framed by the regime of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to discredit him.

Previously, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office requested the U.S. authorities to allow Lazarenko to be interrogated as part of Shcherban's case.

Yulia Tymoshenko, another former Ukrainian Prime Minister, is currently involved in the Scherban case as a witness.

However, First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin said she may be charged with involvement in his assassination, though her health may prevent this. Tymoshenko has been receiving treatment at a Kharkiv hospital since May 2012. She was diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation.

In October 2011, Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of power in signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009. Tymoshenko is serving her sentence in a Kharkiv women's prison. The ex-prime minister's defense denies her involvement in the crime.

In early 2002, eight individuals were arrested on suspicion of the Scherban's assassination.

All eight were found guilty and three were sentenced to life imprisonment.