Record number of criminal cases against businesses in Ukraine: over 5000 companies under investigation
15 July 2024 11:44
In 2023, Ukraine recorded a record number of criminal proceedings against businesses. According to the court registry, more than 5,000 companies have become involved in criminal cases, the highest number since 2012, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports, citing Opendatabot.
Last year, a total of 43,138 documents mentioning business in criminal proceedings were registered, which is 2.6 times more than in the previous year. These included cases of money laundering and collaboration.
The trend continues in 2024, with 2,839 companies involved in criminal proceedings. These include cases of treason, collaboration and money laundering.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that up to 80% of criminal cases against businesses do not have verdicts or do not go to court. At the same time, companies receive only paper letters from the prosecutor’s office about the closure of cases, which cannot be used to confirm their reputation due to the complexity of verification.
Opendatabot proposed a solution to the problem by certifying documents with an electronic signature, but the Prosecutor General’s Office rejected this initiative.
Oleksiy Ivankin, founder of Opendatabot, emphasises the importance of this problem: “A business that has been included in the court register as a defendant in a criminal case will have problems with financial monitoring and compliance in the future. Even if the case is closed, the references in the court register remain forever, and the business has no way to protect its business reputation.”
The situation is further complicated by the fact that, according to the NBU’s resolution on financial monitoring, banks and financial institutions are obliged to check companies that have been involved in criminal cases, which can lead to difficulties in financial transactions for businesses.
