The court could not consider the appeal against the closure of the case against the NBU's chief lawyer - investigators did not provide case materials

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv could not consider the complaint against the decision to close the criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Zyma, director of the legal department of the National Bank of Ukraine, filed by a representative of the co-founders of Concord Bank, Olena and Yulia Sosedka, who were recognized as victims in the case. The reason is that the investigators did not provide the court with the materials of the criminal proceedings, a UNN correspondent reports from the courtroom.

Before the start of the court session, it turned out that the investigators of the Pechersk police department in Kyiv had failed to provide the court with the materials of the criminal proceedings for the second time, which made it impossible to hold a court hearing.

Therefore, the meeting was postponed until 11:00 on October 14.

Let's add

Earlier, the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv, in response to a UNN request, confirmed that the investigator had closed the criminal proceedings regarding the alleged abuse of power or official position that caused grave consequences by Oleksandr Zyma. The case was closed due to the alleged absence of elements of a criminal offense in his actions. The co-founder of Concord Bank, Olena Sosedka, who was recognized as a victim in this case, told UNN in a comment that she plans to appeal the investigator's decision to close the criminal proceedings. At the same time, the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, in response to a UNN request, reported that they plan to find out the legality of closing the criminal proceedings against Zyma.

Recall

The State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal case against the chief lawyer of the NBU at the end of 2023 due to alleged abuse of power or official position that caused grave consequences. Zyma, who is also the head of the administrative board of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, intervened in court proceedings by sending a letter on behalf of the National Bank of Ukraine to the Fund. In the letter, he "recommended" withdrawing lawsuits filed against the National Bank. It is worth noting that the chief lawyer of the regulator asked to withdraw the lawsuits of Concord Bank, filed even before the start of its liquidation process. The plaintiff in court planned to appeal fines totaling almost 63.5 million hryvnias imposed by the regulator.

The Fund followed this recommendation, which, according to the bank's co-owner Olena Sosedka, deprived shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial.

Later, the investigation of the criminal proceedings was transferred to the Pechersk police department in Kyiv, whose investigators recognized the co-founders of "Concord" Olena and Yulia Sosedka as victims. According to lawyers, the investigation thus confirmed that Oleksandr Zyma's actions caused real significant damage to the bank's shareholders.

The police, in response to a UNN request, reported that during the investigation they plan to interrogate the chief lawyer of the National Bank, after which they will consider the possibility of appealing to the court regarding his removal from office.

Experts interviewed by UNN pointed to signs of artificial delay in the investigation of this case.

The Pechersk District Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv was also not satisfied with the pace of the investigation. "The procedural prosecutor sent instructions to the Pechersk Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv to intensify the pre-trial investigation," the department told UNN in response to a request.

In addition, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv also, by two rulings, obliged investigators to intensify the investigation of the mentioned criminal proceedings. However, instead of intensifying the investigation, the case was simply closed.