Hope for justice. Police take up the case of the National Bank's chief lawyer

Investigators of the Pechersk Police Department in Kyiv are actively investigating criminal proceedings over possible abuse of power by Oleksandr Zyma, director of the legal department of the National Bank of Ukraine. In particular, it is planned to interrogate him, UNN reports.

The essence of the matter

More than nine months have passed since the State Bureau of Investigation registered a criminal investigation into the alleged abuse of power and office by Oleksandr Zyma, which led to serious consequences. 

The case was initiated by Zyma's letter 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 Concord demanded to cancel fines totaling almost 63.5 million Hryvnia. They were submitted even before the National Bank decided to liquidate Concord and introduced a temporary administration there.   

"In view of the above, and in order to protect the interests of the state, we propose to consider the expediency of further support of the above cases and leaving such claims without consideration or dismissing them in the manner prescribed by procedural law," Zyma wrote in a letter to the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

The Fund followed the recommendation it received on behalf of the regulator. The letter, by the way, contained Oleksandr Zyma's digital signature.

In other words, Winter's actions probably called into question the independence of the Directorate of the Deposit Guarantee Fund for individuals, which now has a negative impact on interaction with international financial institutions. It is even possible that, for example, the IMF, due to dissatisfaction with the situation, began to actively demand that Ukraine develop a procedure and hold an open competition for the position of managing director of the DGF.

In addition, according to Concorde co-owner Olena Sosedka, Zima deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial by his instructions. 

Replacement of the investigating authority

During the time Zyma's case was being investigated by the SBI, investigators failed to identify victims in the criminal proceedings. Even though the court ordered them to recognize Concorde co-owner Yulia Sosedka as a victim in its decision, this decision has not been implemented in more than four months. 

In October, it became known that the prosecutor's office had transferred the criminal proceedings against Zyma to the Pechersk Police Department in Kyiv for investigation. According to Yulia Sosiedka, this was an attempt by law enforcement officers to delay the investigation. 

The police UNN confirmed that they are investigating the Winter case.

In addition, the police response suggests that the investigators were more enthusiastic about their duties. In particular, they said they planned to identify the victims and interrogate them.

Also, according to the police, investigators will interrogate the chief lawyer of the NBU, Alexander Zima.

"Based on the results of the study of the criminal proceedings, the investigator plans to carry out all necessary investigative actions, including establishing the circle of victims and interrogating them, as well as interrogating Oleksandr Zyma and Yulia Sosedka and others," reads the response to UNN's request .

The law enforcement officers also noted that will apply to the court with a motion to remove Zyma from the position of the director of the NBU's legal department after he is served with a notice of suspicion.

"The decision to apply to the court with a petition for suspension from duty is made only in relation to the suspect. Due to the fact that there is currently no suspect status in the criminal proceedings, it is impossible to file the said motion with the court," the statement said.

A complicated matter

Former First Deputy Head of the State Bureau of Investigation Oleksandr Babikov told UNN that the main difficulty in investigating crimes related to abuse of power and official position is to determine the scope of an official's duties and powers, which are often not specified. 

"The key is the scope of rights and official powers of a person, because it is necessary to study whether this (the decision made by the official – Ed.) was included in his official duties or not, whether he used his official duties, acted on a special assignment. This is very important," Babikov said.

In addition, according to him, investigators in the course of investigating such crimes should find out whether the official's use of his or her official duties and power is related to the damage and negative consequences that have occurred. 

"The main difficulty in investigating these proceedings is to prove that a particular official has illegally used his or her official powers or authority and that this has led to negative consequences. Why? Because in any government agency or organization, the powers of different officials may overlap or not be sufficiently detailed or specified," Babikov said.

At the same time, experts interviewed by UNN pointed out that Zyma may be trying to avoid responsibility due to the significant influence he and his leadership have.

"The NBU is headed by a person who was the head of Oschadbank, which has never spoiled us with its good performance. A bank that was always on the verge of bankruptcy, and the state simply propped it up (financed it - ed.), and a person with such professional experience became the head of the NBU. What do we want? Now all the subordinates, and the chief lawyer is a person who is close to the chairman, are personally fulfilling his tasks. That's why he is protected, he (Zyma - ed.) is protected in advance, because he works in a system that is built for corruption, and under certain obligations to him that he will be protected from persecution," security expert Serhiy Shabovta said .

So for now, we can only hope that the investigators' enthusiasm for the investigation of this criminal proceeding will not fade and that the case against Zyma will end up in court.