Pavlo Lazarenko is a former Ukrainian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 1996 to 1997. He was a prominent figure in the country's political landscape during the 1990s, known for his role in the transition from a Soviet republic to an independent nation. Lazarenko was involved in various economic reforms aimed at privatizing state-owned enterprises. In 2000, he fled Ukraine amid corruption allegations and was later arrested in the United States. Lazarenko was convicted of money laundering and fraud in 2004, leading to a lengthy prison sentence. His case highlighted issues of corruption within the Ukrainian government and the challenges of post-Soviet economic reforms.