KIEV, July 5 - Ukraine’s parliament has stripped a lawmaker closely associated with former President Viktor Yanukovych accused of misappropriating more than $60 million of his immunity.

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted separately three motions to allow Oleksandr Onyshchenko’s prosecution, detention and arrest, the latest in the authorities’ crackdown on alleged corruption.

“The real fight against corruption has started in Ukraine,” Tetyana Chornovol, a legislator from the People’s Front party of former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said after the vote, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

Onyshchenko, a former member of Yanukovych’s party, has fled Ukraine. He said on Facebook that he was in Austria.

He added that he feared for his life, saying “a lot of people from the government would not be very happy if I spoke.”

Onyshchenko is charged in a 1.6 billion hryvnia ($64 million) natural gas fraud at state energy company PAT Ukrhazvydobuvannya.

Clamping down on corruption is a focus of Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman’s government, which took power in April after delays in tackling the problem sparked resignations within the administration and sparked criticism from voters and international creditors.

Ukraine needs to continue the reform of the energy sector, in particular, the privatization of energy companies, in order to improve the efficiency of this sector and actively fight corruption, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said on June 30.

Pyatt recalled that in the absence of reforms in the energy sector a number of people in Ukraine have become extremely rich. Pyatt said they are manipulating the Ukrainian politics through their representatives in parliament and would be happy to leave everything as it is.

Pyatt said the corrupt Ukrainian energy sector was also used by Russia to influence Ukraine.

Jose Carlos Ugaz Sanchez Moreno, the head of international anti-corruption network Transparency International, said June 8 that Ukraine needs the political will of the state itself to implement anti-corruption legislation.

"We (Transparency International) had a talk with the Justice Minister [Yuriy Petrenko] and we are pleased with the measures that have been taken in the anti-corruption reform. That's good, but that's only the beginning. If there is no political will and resources, then it won't work," Ugaz said on June 8 during a joint briefing with Petrenko in Kiev. (nr/rl/ez)