According to Kyiv’s justice minister, changes in the political landscape and the conflict with Russia have renewed the Ukrainian government’s confidence to bring criminal charges against the once-powerful tycoons known as “oligarchs.”
In an interview with Reuters that took place on Monday, Denys Maliuska discussed the investigation of numerous notable billionaires who are suspected of committing crimes, including embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering, in cases that were mostly initiated as a result of the 20-month-old Russian invasion.
“Everyone was afraid of the consequences of indicting oligarchs, but this is no longer the case,” said the prosecutor.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, a group of secretive tycoons in Ukraine utilized the enormous amounts of industrial riches they had accumulated to consolidate political influence and power. Ukraine had a hard time freeing itself from this influence for a long time.
Their industrial assets in the east and south have been destroyed due to Russia’s invasion, and ever since Moscow’s strike in February 2022, the television channels they owned have been broadcasting under a centralized signal. This has resulted in a reduction in their overall power.
According to Maliuska, legislation passed in 2021 to reduce their political and economic dominance also sends a strong signal. As a result, oligarchs have become “quite accessible” to the authorities.
“It’s easier to get access to documents, to witnesses, and to case files, which was impossible even a couple of years ago for law enforcement agencies to achieve,” added the prosecutor.
Ihor Kolomoisky, a billionaire formerly considered President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s most important backer, was arrested and taken into custody a month ago on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
In May, Ukraine revealed that it accused tycoon Dmytro Firtash and organizations under his control of stealing up to $485 million in a “large-scale scheme” involving Ukraine’s gas transportation infrastructure. The United States wants Firtash.
Both have stated that they did nothing wrong.
In January of this year, the authorities carried out a search warrant that seized assets valued at over $375 million. According to the authorities, these assets belonged to an exiled millionaire named Vadym Novynskyi, whom they accused of assisting Russia. He asserts that he did nothing wrong.
According to the Ukrainian investment organization Smart Holding, Novynskyi is no longer the assets owner because he allegedly relinquished possession of them one year ago.
The goal of Ukraine is to join the European Union and demonstrate to its Western allies that it is capable of managing a significant infusion of investment and finances to assist in the reconstruction of the nation.
At the same time that anti-corruption agencies have begun prosecuting current and former government officials, the authorities are working to reform the judicial system and strengthen their commitment to the rule of law.
Because of the possibility that it would be “misused for political purposes,” the European Union has suggested that Ukraine postpone the implementation of a law set to take effect in 2021, which requires the National Security Council to register individuals identified as oligarchs.
Maliuska stated that Kyiv would comply with the suggestions made by the EU, but in the meanwhile, Ukrainian law enforcement would continue their investigations, which he referred to as “game-changers” for Kyiv’s effort to clean up.
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