Transport Minister Heorhiy Kirpa was found dead with fatal gunshot wounds at his dacha in Bortnychi, reports Channel 5.\n\nAnchor Roman Skrypin emphasized that this information is being verified and clarified.\n\nPress secretary of the State Department of Railway Transport "Ukrzaliznytsia" Eduard Zaniuk confirmed the fact of the patron's death, without commenting on the cause of death.\n\nAt the same time, according to RIA "Novosti", Zaniuk confirmed that death occurred as a result of a gunshot wound.\n\nAccording to a source of "Interfax-Ukraine" in the capital's main police department, for now one can speak "of a sudden death at a dacha near Kyiv."\n\nEverything else, according to him, is classified information. To the question of whether it was a death or a fatality, the press secretary said that the conclusion would be made by the investigative authorities.\n\nAccording to Channel 5, at approximately 3 p.m. Kirpa saw his wife off from the dacha. After that, at around 4 p.m., he called someone.\n\nAt around 6 p.m. the minister's body was found. It is not ruled out that he committed suicide, since a pistol was found next to him.\n\nAccording to other data, the transport minister died of a heart attack.\n\nThe circumstances of death are being established. Press secretary of the transport minister Kostiantyn Remezovskyi suggested that the circumstances of death might be commented on Tuesday morning.\n\nAs an NTN correspondent reports from the scene, Prosecutor General Sviatoslav Piskun visited Bortnychi and left the minister's dacha at 10 p.m.\n\nAccording to Interfax-Ukraine, an operational-investigative group of the capital's main department is working there. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, head of the main directorate for combating organized crime Mykhailo Manin is also there.\n\nCurrently the minister's dacha is surrounded by a cordon. Several vehicles of the prosecutor general's office and police are standing near the dacha. Police refuse to comment on the events.\n\nAccording to NTN television channel, late in the evening an emergency meeting was held at "Ukrzaliznytsia."\n\nAccording to Channel 5, in the opinion of former first deputy transport minister Ivan Salii, Kirpa's death may be connected "with financial affairs and debts." According to Salii, the money for the construction of the bridge in Kyiv has been fully spent, and the construction itself has stalled due to lack of funding.\n\nUkrainska Pravda\n\n* * * * *\n\nKirpa was killed - because his body was given a funeral service by a holy father?\n\nwww.PRAVDA.com.ua, 28.12.2004, 00:11\n\n First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mykhailo Manin is not yet naming any version of the death of Transport Minister Heorhiy Kirpa.\n\nLate in the evening on Monday, in an interview with "Interfax-Ukraine" from the scene, Manin said that police cannot yet name the cause of death.\n\n"So far we cannot determine what he died from," said Manin, adding that currently "the inspection of the scene is underway; experts are working."\n\n"When everything is inspected, then versions can be put forward," he said.\n\nHe also reported that the body was discovered in the summer house at the minister's dacha in the village of Bortnychi near Kyiv.\n\nEarlier, a source in the capital's main police department told the agency that for now one can only speak "of a sudden death at a dacha near Kyiv."\n\nEverything else, according to him, is classified information. An investigative-operational group of the capital's main department is working at the scene.\n\nAccording to information from a source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the minister was found by his bodyguard with a gunshot wound, a pistol was lying near the body. The bodyguard permanently lives in the house, however he did not hear the shot.\n\nFor now the official police version is suicide, the source said.\n\nMeanwhile, "Channel 5" reports, citing certain sources, that Kirpa may have several gunshot wounds and this is not suicide.\n\nAs a "Channel 5" correspondent notes from the scene, a holy father came out of the house where Kirpa's body was. "Channel 5" draws attention to the fact that suicides are not given funeral services according to church canons.\n\nAccording to the channel's version, Kirpa's body was found by his relatives; on Monday he was not at work.