The Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko reported that the Office of the Attorney General has completed a quantitative audit of criminal proceedings that directly or indirectly relate to business entities.

“And there are problems here. The latest data from the dashboard shows 6,249 criminal proceedings regarding business entities, which turned out to be several times smaller than the actual audit data, which amounts to over 20 THOUSAND proceedings. And all of them are subject to verification,” emphasized the Attorney General.

Ruslan Kravchenko added that the result of such verifications will lead to the following steps:

✅ First. Proceedings that have not been investigated for years and do not contain objective data confirming the elements or event of the crime will be necessarily closed within a reasonable time under Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

✅ Second. In criminal proceedings where sufficient evidence has not yet been collected to make a lawful decision, necessary expert examinations will be appointed to establish the truth, the results of which will determine the fate of these proceedings. 

“At the same time, legitimate businesses will be freed from unlawful pressure and interference in their economic activities. Numerous unfounded searches and summons for questioning to supposedly establish circumstances that have already been established will be stopped. Every expert examination provided by the defense will be thoroughly investigated and verified within the framework of the investigation,” emphasized Ruslan Kravchenko.

“I also appeal to businesses – maintain open communication with law enforcement agencies. Provide your evidence, which will certainly be taken into account. If the expert examinations do not confirm the existence of the circumstances being verified, we will make a decision under Article 284 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, that is, we will close the proceedings and the business will operate with a clear conscience. If the examination confirms the position of the investigation - we act according to the law: we complete the investigation and transfer the case to court,” he urged.

✅ Third. Criminal proceedings in which there are already expert conclusions or individuals have been notified of suspicion will be transferred to court.

“Do you have distrust, doubts about the expert examinations that confirmed the position of the investigation or the prosecutor? No problem, the adversarial nature of the parties in the criminal process is guaranteed by law. But I emphasize: the investigation is not a competition of expert examinations. In a criminal proceeding, expert examinations play a significant role, but they are not the sole basis. The key factors are the legality, quality, and quantity of evidence collected during the pre-trial investigation. 

I will repeat once again: I am exclusively for a transparent and open mechanism of work and communication. And for me, there is no one more equal than others,” concluded Ruslan Kravchenko.