On 1 July 2020, the Barcelona Court of Appeal, in a final decision, upheld the closure of a preliminary investigation against Stepan Chernovetskyi, Ukrainian businessman and founder of Chernovetskyi Investment Group.

As reported earlier, in October 2019, a Spanish lower court closed the preliminary investigation conducted against Chernovetskyi since 2014.

 “The Barcelona Court of Appeal rejected the prosecutor's appeal, upholding the decision of the court of first instance, and closed the case. This means that the courts have now twice confirmed that Mr. Chernovetskyi’s investments in Spain and his business activity here were entirely legal,” Martell Abogados, Stepan Chernovetskyi’s Spanish attorneys, stated.

As previously reported, the Spanish prosecutors and court had long kept a secrecy regime over the case and prevented the defense from accessing the case file. On its own motion, the defense provided the audit and legal reports confirming the legality of Chernovetskyi’s investments in Spain.

 “To me, it was a matter of principle to restore justice. I have spent a lot of time and effort to this end, and the decision of the court of appeal delivers a closure for me. I am glad that we can finally focus on business and development rather than on defending ourselves against baseless allegations,” Chernovetskyi says.