Significant crime surge expected in upcoming year, - Interior Minister Avakov

The minister is certain that releasing recidivists under 'Savchenko law' (stipulating for counting one day in a pre-trial detention as two days of jail term) will lead to grave consequences.

The Ukrainian law enforcement agencies will face a serious challenge in the upcoming year and a half as the crime rate is expected to surge due to 'Savchenko law' applied to jailed convicts. This was announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov during a ministry meeting aired by 112 Ukraine TV channel, Censor.NET reports.

"The ['Savchenko'] law has no retroaction, so in the upcoming year and a half we'll see a serious [crime] surge and a challenge caused by the fact that recidivists are being released and end up in the environment that is 'productive' for them," Avakov said.

Earlier, it was reported about 8,500 people released from jails under the 'Savchenko' law. More than 900 of them (about 11 percent) have been caught conducting repeated crimes.