Pechersky District Court obliges PGO to remove Burisma president Zlochevsky from wanted list
Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has obliged Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) to remove President and owner of Burisma and former ecology and natural resources minister Mykola Zlochevsky from the wanted list, the company's press service has reported.
Burisma said on its website on Wednesday that the decision was made in case No. 805 and it cannot be appealed anymore.
"After studying the details of the case Pechersky District Court has come to the conclusion that Zlochevsky did not receive the procedural status of suspect in the criminal proceedings. He is a witness and criminal procedural measures cannot be taken against him," the company said.
The decision of Pechersky District Court meets the decision of Central Criminal Court in London issued in January 2015.
"After studying evidences of all parties during nine months, the English court admitted that the facts are evidence that there were no unlawful actions. The court considered evidence filed in respect of the activities of Zlochevsky from 2002 to 2014. The prosecutors did not file a counterclaim. This is a precedent in Ukrainian practice when thanks to cooperation of a private company and authorities the legal and transparent decision was made confirmed by international justice. The decision of Pechersky District Court confirms the decision of the English court made earlier," lawyer Yaroslav Beliavsky said.
Zlochevsky is President of Burisma Group with gas assets in Ukraine. From June 2010 until April 2012 he was ecology and natural resources minister of Ukraine.
In 2014, Britain arrested assets and investigated into the case against the former minister. In January 2015, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales unblocked the accounts of Brociti Investments Ltd of Zlochevsky in the amount of $23 million on grounds of dismissal of all charges. Britain closed the criminal proceedings against his assets.
In December 2015, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk said that NABU will tackle a case on unblocking accounts of Zlochevsky.
Two criminal cases against Zlochevsky are opened in Ukraine – for abuse of office and embezzlement of budget funds and unlawful enrichment.
