The Court of Appeal of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) partially satisfied an appeal of the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and overturned the verdict regarding the acquittal of former director of Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine (ZTMC) Volodymyr Syvak on the fact of embezzlement of more than UAH 18.6 million by abuse of office.

"The Court of Appeal delivered a new verdict, which found the ex-director of the company guilty of committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to three and a half years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold positions related to the execution of organizational-administrative and administrative duties for three years, with a fine of UAH 17,000," the SAPO said in a press release.

At the same time, the verdict comes into force from the moment of its announcement and can be appealed within three months.

As reported, in January 2021, the HACC Chamber of Appeal upheld the acquittal against Syvak due to the absence of corpus delicti.

In turn, on November 5, 2021, the panel of judges of the Third Judicial Chamber of the Criminal Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court of Ukraine partially satisfied the prosecutor's cassation appeal against court decisions regarding the acquittal of Syvak in criminal proceedings on embezzlement of funds in especially large amounts (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

At the same time, the Criminal Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court canceled the decision of the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine dated January 28, 2021 and sent the criminal proceedings for a new consideration to the court of appeal.

Previously, the SAPO accused Syvak of squandering $110 million when he was the director of ZTMC in 2014, with direct intent and abusing his official position. The criminal proceedings were registered on September 15, 2015 and transferred to NABU on June 8, 2016.