15:25 01.08.2019

Court twice refuses to arrest Yushchenko's houses, café and land in Bezradychi

2 min read

Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has twice turned down motions by state prosecutors to arrest the property of ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko (2005 to 2010).

The Court Reporter (Sudovy Reporter) ezine, citing the court rulings, said one was made on July 9 by judge Viacheslav Pidpaly, and the second on July 25 by Vitaliy Pysanets.

According to the reports, on May 24, a written notice of suspicion was drawn on Yushchenko for taking possession of a large amount of state property in a prior conspiracy by a group of persons by abuse of official position. On May 28, prosecutors ordered materials on Yushchenko to be set aside in a separate proceeding, and on June 4 he was served a notice of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 191 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (misappropriation or embezzlement of another's property entrusted to a person or under his jurisdiction).

"It's about taking possession of the Puscha-Vodytsia recreation complex in the Mezhyhirya tract by prior agreement with the prime minister, the minister of environmental protection and the Nadra Ukrainy head. The cost of the property is estimated at UAH 540 million. But the court did not receive any documents in confirmation of this. The exchange contracts between Medinvesttrade LLC and national joint-stock company Nadra Ukrainy indicate the value of property at UAH 93 million and UAH 91.7 million. This makes it impossible for the court to verify the validity of the suspicion," the article said.

The investigator requested that Yushchenko's property be seized in order to ensure his possible confiscation in the future. But the court did not receive evidence that Yushchenko was trying to alienate his property.

In addition, Yushchenko's order of 2007 was not canceled, and the contract between Medinvesttrade LLC and Nadra Ukrainy in 2007 was not recognized unlawful in court.

Judge Pysanets said since the allocation of materials refers to the criminal proceedings of 2019, the case is under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and violation of the rules of jurisdiction entails the recognition of evidence as unacceptable.

The July 9 decision provides a list of Yushchenko's property. It includes four land plots on the territory of the village of Stari Bezradychi, in Obukhiv district, Kyiv region. He also owns half of 17 plots in Novi Bezradychi, a cafe with living quarters and two residential buildings, one of them with utility buildings and structures.

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