KROLEVETSKYI
and partners

The Appeals Chamber of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court, on October 31, 2023, overturned the guilty verdict in the case of the “ELECTROVAZHMASH” Plant and closed the proceedings due to the absence of a criminal offense in the actions of all our defendants: three officials of the state enterprise and two co-owners of a foreign private business structure.

This marks the first instance of the Appeals Chamber overturning a guilty verdict by the Higher Anti-Corruption Court while simultaneously acquitting all accused in the court’s practice.

This remarkable outcome was achieved by the efforts of the criminal law practice team of “Krolevetsky and Partners,” consisting of lawyers Dmytro Ostapenko and Ivan Kucher.

To recap, our clients were accused by the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office based on materials gathered by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

The accusations included selling the products manufactured by the “ELECTROVAZHMASH” Plant to a Czech private company at a price allegedly lower than the market value, allowing the Czech firm to subsequently resell these parts to a Lithuanian buyer at twice the price.

The prosecutors argued that the price difference should be considered as “ELECTROVAZHMASH’s” unearned income or missed benefit, accusing the officials of the plant of abusing their official positions. The case also involved allegations of collusion between the business representatives and the plant officials, with claims of the fictitious nature of the Czech company.

On November 22, 2022, the Higher Anti-Corruption Court partially sided with the prosecution, acquitting only one of our five defendants and sentencing the others to imprisonment for three and a half to four years. Special confiscation was also applied to the funds of the Czech company.

Disagreeing with this decision, we appealed to the Appeals Chamber of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court, emphasizing the lack of evidence of harm caused by our defendants and arguing for the grounds to close the proceedings. After ten months of appellate review, the judges of the judicial panel, including Chornenka D.S., Kaluhina I.O., and Panaida I.V., agreed with the arguments presented by the lawyers of “Krolevetsky and Partners,” leading to the complete and undisputed acquittal of each of our five clients.

Our team eagerly awaits the full text of the Appeals Chamber’s decision on October 31, 2023, in case No. 991/6712/20 to share the motives behind the Court’s decision, addressing the appeals filed by lawyers Dmytro Ostapenko and Ivan Kucher.