The relevant Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Law Enforcement supported draft law No. 12439 "On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine Regarding the Improvement of Guarantees for the Protection of Business Entities During Criminal Proceedings and Increasing the Effectiveness of Justice in Criminal Proceedings Through Written Proceedings" and recommended that Parliament adopt it in the second reading. In a comment to UNN, Vitaliy Serdyuk, a lawyer with many years of experience in business protection, emphasized the importance of adopting this draft law.
According to the lawyer, today almost everyone in Ukraine who is engaged in entrepreneurial activity has, one way or another, encountered law enforcement agencies. Sometimes, according to him, doing business literally turns into communication with law enforcement agencies, and quite often, hand in hand with this goes a corrupt component.
The changes in draft law No. 12339 are precisely aimed at reducing the corrupt component of law enforcement activities and making life easier for businesses. I am confident that there is no enterprise in Ukraine that has not faced "questions" from law enforcement officers. A large number of businesses are forced to constantly spend time and effort on such "communication." The structure of the current Criminal Procedure Code allows each of the 5 investigative bodies (NABU, BEB, National Police, SBU, SBI) separately or together - to work on a business - "Whoever registered the proceedings - that's who investigates." There is no way to appeal this! It seems that business in our country is equated with criminal activity.
According to Serdyuk, pressure on businesses begins from the moment criminal proceedings are registered and the scope of rights granted to the investigation is used - inquiries, temporary access, interrogations, searches, seizure of documents/goods, creating problems for your counterparties, arrest of funds and property, operational measures - surveillance/wiretapping, recruitment of employees and intelligence work. Under such conditions, the lawyer emphasizes, there are no prospects for development, prospects for attracting investments, increasing the volume of operating businesses. And in such conditions, any business can be easily brought to its knees by a simple set of investigative actions, starting from summons for interrogation, to the seizure of documents and the arrest of property.
"A separate issue is when it is a targeted attack through competitive struggle, personal conflicts, банальне extortion or the desire to take over such a business. In such a case, the above list is supplemented by - detention of managers and employees, millions in bail, pre-trial detention centers, seizure and transfer of property to ARMA, destruction of business reputation through the regular press centers of law enforcement officers. The list can be continued. In the absolute majority of cases, Article 191 of the Criminal Code - embezzlement, misappropriation of property or its acquisition by abuse of official position - is registered for this purpose. Although according to Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the investigation of this crime is defined for the investigative bodies of the National Police of Ukraine, any of the above-mentioned bodies, when registering, indicates "its own" additional article/qualification and starts the case. Currently, draft law #12439 proposes to enter information about a business entity only by the head of the prosecutor's office, and not by any investigator of NABU, BEB, National Police, SBU, SBI. At the same time, they retain the right to investigate, but control over dishonest behavior and possible abuses is significantly increased," the lawyer explained.
Serdyuk emphasized that the draft law defines the institution that will be responsible to businesses – the prosecutor's office – and this, in the lawyer's opinion, is a very positive change. Another positive change is the establishment of terms for property arrest, which will not allow investigators to delay. The lawyer emphasized that as a practicing lawyer, he is interested in the adoption of such legislative innovations that will ease the situation of domestic businesses.
"If we are truly for development and guarantees for business in Ukraine, which currently supports both the economy and the army - these changes must be adopted," the lawyer believes.
Recall
The draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the improvement of guarantees for the protection of business entities during criminal proceedings was adopted as a basis in February 2025. It has now been finalized for the second reading.