The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGO) on June 25, 2020 executed the ruling of Kyiv’s Pechersky district court issued on June 5, 2020 and annulled a decree of ex-First Deputy Prosecutor General Vitaliy Kasko approved on September 18, 2019 on the re-opening of a criminal proceeding in the case related to the issue of a Hr 1.2 billion stabilization loan to VAB Bank by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in autumn 2014.
“The prosecutor’s office is part of the triangle of justice (Section 8 of the Constitution of Ukraine) and cannot neglect constitutional norms, but I believe that such decisions of courts undermine the general principles of the law enforcement system. In addition, according to Article 303 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, there are no grounds to challenge such procedural decisions of a prosecutor,” Proseutor General Iryna Venediktova said, commenting the closure of the criminal case under the decision of the court.
She said that, on the one hand, the law on the Prosecutor’s Office and the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine prohibits interference in the professional activities of the prosecutor. However, on the other hand, the same law requires respect for the independence of judges and prohibits the public expression of doubts about the justice of court decisions beyond their appeal, and the judge clearly stated in the text of the decision that the decision is not subject to appeal.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has finally put an end to the so-called “Pysaruk and Bakhmatiuk case” [ex-first deputy head of the NBU Oleksandr Pysaruk and ex-owner of VAB Bank Oleh Bakhmatiuk]… The decision to close this case gives me as the shareholder an opportunity to hold a constructive dialogue with the Deposit Guarantee Fund,” Bakhmatiuk said, commenting on the closure of the case.
He reiterated his opinion that Kasko reinstated the criminal case in violation of the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code and the procedural deadlines, and this was the result of a conspiracy of former Head of the President’s Office Andriy Bohdan, ex-Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka and Director of the NABU Artem Sytnyk, each of whom had their own motives to destroy the businessman-owned Ukrlandfarming agricultural holding.
“The next step should be taken by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which is obliged to cancel all procedural actions that were taken on the basis of a trumped-up case, because the case is closed, and such investigative actions are illegal. SAPO is obliged to comply with the lawful court decision and stop the terror of the company that faced economic losses due to this,” Bakhmatiuk said.
