Over conflict of interest, groundless charges, Court of Appeal orders to take Pisaruk-Bakhmatyuk case from NABU
The Ukrlandfarming Agricultural Holding has reported on a judgment handed down by the Pechersk court on the conflict of interests of NABU officials in the case targeting former acting Head of the National Bank, Oleksandr Pysaruk, and company shareholder Oleg Bakhmatyuk
Thatʼs according to Ukranews.
On January 21, 2021, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv ruled that Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova consider the motion by the lawyer of the agricultural company shareholder Oleg Bakhmatyuk to change the investigative jurisdiction in the NABU case. The court has recognized the existence of a conflict of interests of officials and the groundlessness of charges pressed. Also, on January 28, 2021, the Kyiv Court of Appeal, whose jurisdiction covers all rulings of the Pechersk Court of Kyiv, refused to open a proceeding on the appeal, that is, with its decision, it confirmed the legality of Pechersk Courtʼs judgment of January 21, 2021. Thatʼs according to a statement posted on the website of Oleg Bakhmatyukʼs agricultural holding.
"The court only confirmed what weʼve been talking about from the very beginning. The pressure on our company, which NABU has been exerting on under the guise of ʼcase investigationʼ targeting the former acting head of the NBU Oleksandr Pysaruk and our company shareholder Oleg Bakhmatyuk, is due to a single fact: NABU Director Artem Sytnyk has a direct conflict of interests. By the courts of all instances, he was found guilty of committing a corruption-related wrongdoing, while the prosecutionʼs main witness in courts was the advisor to our shareholder Oleg Bakhmatyukʼs sister," the agricultural holding says.
In addition, NABU detectives investigating the case have a direct conflict of interest. They are being targeted in the SBU case on blackmailing bank employees and the Ukrlandfarming shareholder. The case into the refinancing of VAB Bank, due to which the agricultural firm is suffering losses, was closed by court rulings over the lack of corpus delicti. The investigation was resumed and the case – transferred to NABU precisely after a statement by a blackmailer, who is on the wanted list. The investigation established her ties to NABU detectives, who, by a strange coincidence, are now probing the case against the Ukrlandfarming shareholder. The Pechersk Court also established that the charges pressed against the persons targeted in the NABUʼs case into the VAB Bank were groundless, based on the documents provided to the court, the agricultural holding reports.
"The NABUʼs far-fetched and fabricated case is falling apart. But, unfortunately, processes have already taken place for which none of NABU officials have been held accountable. As a result of unlawful terror by NABU operatives, production at 37 enterprises that are part of the Ukrlandfarming Group has been completely halted. A total of 13,000 Ukrainians lost their jobs, while last year alone, the budget fell short of UAH 1.5 billion in taxes. Farms, including unique breeding enterprises, have been shut. Poultry factories have been closed. In the near future, this list of victims of Artem Sytnykʼs personal revenge may be replenished if law fails to stand up and protect our rights from the arbitrariness of corrupt officials," the statement says.
It should be recalled that the NABU case vs Pysaruk and Bakhmatyuk concerns VAB Bank receiving refinancing from the National Bank. The official conclusions of forensic examinations, the conclusions of the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund, and the NBU statements refute the allegations publicly put forward by the NABU against the bankʼs former management and ex-owner.
