Pryamyy television channel has appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, calling for a halt to the investigative actions of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), which in 2019 opened a criminal case against the television channel based on a complaint filed by Ukrainian politician and lawyer Andriy Portnov, the former head of the Main Directorate for Judicial Reform in the administration of President Viktor Yanukovych, who was murdered in Spain in 2025.
"Starting in May 2019, based on complaints filed by A.V. Portnov, the State Bureau of Investigations launched a wave of criminal proceedings against the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, including a case regarding the alleged seizure of the Pryamyy television channel. The statement published by Portnov online was filed regarding alleged tax evasion during the March-May 2017 sale of shares in the television channel's authorized capital… Portnov demanded that SBI investigators initiate criminal proceedings, a request that was immediately granted by the SBI. "Despite the fact that the criminal complaint contains no details regarding the nature of the alleged offense, SBI investigators have been exerting unfounded pressure on the creative work of the TV channel's staff for the eighth year in a row," the TV channel said on the website citing the statement.
The television channel is appealing to Ukraine's Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky with a request to review the legality of the investigation into Portnov's complaint and to ensure that a lawful and well-founded procedural decision is made in the case.
As previously reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Anton Kovalsky, head of Khmelnytsky Regional Prosecutor's Office, to serve as acting Prosecutor General on September 17. Prior to that, on September 15, Zelenskyy signed a decree dismissing Ruslan Kravchenko from the post of Prosecutor General after the Verkhovna Rada approved his dismissal.
