Abuse of power in Ukraine: the number of cases has increased dramatically over the past almost three years
Kyiv • UNN
In 2022-2024, more than 8,000 cases of abuse of power were registered in Ukraine.
Over the past three years, the number of cases involving abuse of power or position by officials has been growing rapidly. In particular, from January 2022 to September 2024, law enforcement officers registered more than 8,000 criminal proceedings under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "abuse of power or position". This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office in response to a request by UNN.
Details
According to the PGO response, in the first 9 months of this year alone, law enforcement agencies registered 2 092 criminal proceedings on the facts of possible abuse of power or official position. Of these, 229 cases were closed, and indictments were sent to the court in another 167 proceedings.
In 2023, according to the PGO, 3545 such criminal proceedings were opened. Of these, law enforcement closed 563 cases, and another 634 indictments were submitted to the court.
In 2022, 2 729 criminal cases were opened on the facts of possible abuse of power or position. Of these, 516 proceedings were closed, while another 160 cases were sent to court for consideration on the merits and contained indictments.
According to statistics, the number of cases involving abuse of power by officials is growing rapidly every year. This may be due to the fact that officials feel impunity, as not even half of the cases opened against officials go to court.
One example of such confidence is the criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Zyma, Chief Lawyer of the National Bank of Ukraine. The case was opened at the end of 2022 and is still under investigation. Meanwhile, Zyma continues to work at the National Bank.
The case was opened due to letter from Zyma to the Deposit Guarantee Fund. In the document, Zyma, who is also the chief lawyer of the National Bank and the chairman of the Administrative Council of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, recommended on behalf of the National Bank that the Deposit Guarantee Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the National Bank of Ukraine.
It was about four lawsuits in which Concorde demanded to cancel fines totaling almost UAH 63.5 million. They were filed even before the National Bank decided to liquidate Concorde and put it under temporary administration.
The DGF followed the recommendation it received on behalf of the regulator. The letter contained a digital signature of Oleksandr Zyma, who is also the chairman of the Deposit Guarantee Fund's Administrative Board, which appoints and dismisses its management.
In this way, Zyma may have called into question the independence of the Deposit Guarantee Fund's management, which now has a negative impact on cooperation with international financial institutions. It is possible that, for example, the IMF, due to its dissatisfaction with the situation, has begun to actively demand that Ukraine develop a procedure and hold an open competition for the position of the DGF Managing Director.
In addition, according to Concorde co-owner Olena Sosiedka, Zima deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial by his instructions.
Currently, Zyma's case has been transferred from the SBI to the Pechersk Police Department of Kyiv for investigation. Law enforcement officials told UNN that they plan to identify the victims and interrogate the chief lawyer of the National Bank. Also, after Zyma is served with a notice of suspicion, investigators will file a petition with the court to remove him from his duties as director of the NBU's legal department.
