Despite assurances from National Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyi that banks are processing payments to the accounts of the High Anti-Corruption Court as usual, bail providers continue to face refusals to transfer funds. Actual documents, receipts, and lawyers’ statistics indicate that banks are routinely returning funds and blocking the accounts of bail providers, while the bail mechanism itself has turned into an instrument of extrajudicial pressure, reports UNN.
Earlier, Pyshnyi reported that during August–September, banks processed 527 payments to the HACC account totaling UAH 141 million. However, according to information from the "Judicial and Legal Gazette," the NBU governor did not disclose the number of cases in which banks refused to accept bail payments, returned the money, or delayed transferring it.
According to the defense in a number of criminal proceedings, of the UAH 117.2 million that people attempted to deposit as bail, only UAH 18.9 million reached the court—approximately 16% of the amount.
In particular, lawyers report:
- 42 refusals to process payments through bank branches or applications.
- 13 cases in which already accepted payments were returned, totaling UAH 13.7 million.
- 26 people who were unable to pay any amount of bail.
- 14 cases in which banks refused to establish or continue banking relationships.
According to media reports, Pyshnyi’s name appears in the materials of criminal proceedings related to funds belonging to Oschadbank, which he previously headed. This situation potentially creates leverage over the regulator’s head on the part of the NABU, which is not interested in suspects being released on bail and may benefit from this situation.
After all, suspects for whom banks refuse to accept the court-ordered funds are effectively deprived of the opportunity to be released from custody. This creates additional psychological pressure and could potentially be used to obtain testimony desired by the investigation.
The European Court of Human Rights also criticizes cases in which a person is not given the opportunity to pay bail or bail is set at an amount they are unable to pay.