"Now in Ukraine, entrepreneurs have law, prosecutors have permissiveness" - Viktor Moskovchenko, activist of "Manifesto 42" movement and businessman
The story of unscrupulous law enforcement officers stealing "evidence" during interrogations, or rather calling what they steal evidence, is not a new one. In this case, the object of the search may not even be directly related to the criminal proceedings in which the "evidence" was seized. However, there are unique situations when the resonance creates at least a chance of punishing the offender.
In relation to the searches of "Medinova" and "Advanced Medtechnology", the SBI opened a case against the prosecutor accused of stealing more than UAH 4 million and even brought it to court.
Censor.NET spoke about this case with Viktor Moskovchenko, the owner of "Medinova", about why Ukrainian business is forced to defend itself during the war, and about how big businessmen support each other by uniting in the "Manifesto 42" movement, a centre for researching signs of crimes related to the violation of Article 42 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the right to entrepreneurship.
I DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT. I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY BUDGET FUNDS
- The whole case of the searches in your company is scandalous, but the news is focused on the searches of entrepreneur Oleksandr Mikhnovets, who accuses the prosecutor of stealing €101,250 from him during the search. Please recall the plot of the searches that took place in June 2023 at your place, other entrepreneurs' places of business and companies' offices. The court's search warrant concerned only documents, but the money that the prosecutor had embezzled from Mikhnovets was seized as evidence. Is that right?
- The general plot of the criminal proceedings is that the law was allegedly violated by government officials. The State Agency for Infrastructure Projects, which purchased these defibrillators for the SES, was allegedly colluding with private companies. Allegedly, the prices were inflated, although in fact these defibrillators were sold at prices even lower than the expected price at the tender, i.e. lower than the state could pay.
We were searched on 9 June 2023, and, as you noted, the court order only referred to the search for documents, but they also seized my phone, which effectively blocked my activities as a businessman. I keep emphasising that we did not hide the documents, the police had copies of all the documents they were interested in, and we were ready to provide the originals ourselves. I told the police, let's go to the office. All the documents are there, but they did not listened to me.... I would like to point out that I did not participate in public procurement, did not determine the cost of such procurement, and did not receive budget funds.
- Did you ask the operatives why they had come and why they were looking for what you were ready to provide? What were your arguments?
- Moreover, they were clearly not looking for documents, as they even looked into light bulb boxes.
The proceedings were opened on the grounds of alleged overpricing of defibrillators by private companies, including mine and the company of Alexander Mikhnovets. As part of this criminal proceeding, the prosecutor's office came to Mikhnovets' place to search. As a result, first, the funds disappeared. And then the prosecutor of the Holosiivskyi District Prosecutor's Office in Kyiv, Volodymyr Vinnikov, disappeared.
As for the money, it was seized as evidence, without regard to its legal origin. Although, according to the court order, they should not have been seized - after all, this is a well-known scheme of our law enforcement officers. They legalised the "evidence" retroactively, and contrary to the law, not within two days, but within a month and a half. This delay blocked Mikhnovets's lawyers from filing a motion to return the property.
- You are the one who speaks publicly about this case. How is Mikhnovets himself doing now?
- In his case, the absurdity is exacerbated by the fact that he and his family left Donetsk region to escape the occupation, and his home state surprised him.
- I would like to remind you once again of the course of events.
The criminal case was initiated for alleged corruption in May 2021 against officials of the State Agency for Infrastructure Projects (proceedings 42021102010000048). In 2020, Ukrinfraproekt announced the purchase of five hundred medical packs for the SES for a little over UAH 100 million. The tender was won by "Pharmedis" LLC, to which I have no relation, which purchased defibrillators from "Advanced Medtechnology" for this kit. The cost of one medical stack was almost UAH 199,000, while the SES itself announced the expected cost at UAH 200,000.
- What is the price of a defibrillator? It was stated that this is the most expensive component of the stack.
- These defibrillators are of high quality, automatic, German-made - CORPULS AED. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the final price for the tender was indicated by "Pharmedis", to which I have no relation.
However, the police and the prosecutor's office of the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv turned to their expert Yevheniia Zelenina, who conducted a "comparative examination" in a day or two, where she stated that the price was overstated, and the real price of the entire installation was UAH 71,910.
- That is, even less than the price of a defibrillator alone...
- This expert used much worse Chinese defibrillators as a sample. Therefore, we cannot consider such an examination relevant and refer to it as evidence. Moreover, this expert has been repeatedly prosecuted by the Ministry of Justice and her certificate has been suspended.
RECOVERING THE MONEY STOLEN BY THE PROSECUTOR IS A VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE MISSION
- Can your case be considered in the context of scandalous cases, when a case is initiated against the abuse of public officials, but in fact, businesses are being crushed, even those that are not directly related to public officials? In other words, if law enforcement officers were looking for these officials who allegedly broke the law?
- Yes, this case fits this criterion - it seems so. It appears that the investigation was inactive. The court register does not contain any rulings on the investigation of this case.
- At what stage is the criminal case against Vinnikov? You have succeeded in getting an investigation against him.
- The criminal proceedings against the prosecutor who stole the funds have been completed. The SBI, together with the Prosecutor General's Office, sent the indictment to court, and the first court hearing was held on 9 October.
- And Vinnikov himself is not in a pre-trial detention centre, was he granted a personal petition? Is this the case today or has something changed?
- Yes, Vinnikov is free. His father also works in the prosecutor's office, so there is a mutual responsibility. As of now, the Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Pechersk District Court and did not put Vinnikov behind bars.
Although the evidence is clear. During the search, Vinnikov stated that he intended to spend Mikhnovets's money for his own holiday. This was even recorded in the search report.
- Do you know where the money is and is there a chance of getting it back?
- This is not a case of "we found the spoons, but the sediment remained". There is no money, and getting it back is a mission that is almost impossible. Prosecutor Vinnikov in this case is not a typical prosecutor, as they say, he is poor as a "church mouse". Therefore, it does not seem possible to recover the money from him.
- And the main criminal proceedings that started it all? I mean the one about the alleged overpricing of defibrillators?
- This proceeding is active, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the NABU. We are not aware of any actions being taken by the NABU.
- If the case is not actually moving forward, do you understand who is behind it? Is it a political showdown and you are in the hot seat or a deliberate attack on you?
- This is a simple raid on a private business, and someone in law enforcement wanted to get an undue advantage.
BUSINESS DOES NOT NEED CHANGES TO THE CRIMINAL CODE JUST FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE
- Have you applied to the Business Ombudsman regarding violations of your rights and the blockade of your business?
- We contacted a number of organisations and government agencies involved in business protection. We also contacted the Business Ombudsman directly, but we received no response. We also contacted the Department for Investment Protection of the Verkhovna Rada and the relevant department of the Prosecutor General's Office. So far, to no avail. Lastly, we appealed to the Council for the Protection of Entrepreneurship under Martial Law, which was established under the President. The procedure is complicated, as we have to apply to two business associations before we can do so. We applied to the Federation of Employers there and to various public associations. They studied our case and assessed that there were indeed significant violations and signs of pressure on business. They recommended that our case file be reviewed by the Presidential Council for the Protection of Entrepreneurship.
- The Council for Support of Entrepreneurship under Martial Law under the President of Ukraine proposes amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. It is stated that these changes are aimed at protecting businesses from undue pressure from law enforcement agencies. Do you know anything about this and what is your attitude to this proposal?
- Changes for the sake of changes, replacing one sign with another, do not solve the existing problems. Let's wait to see what these changes will be and then draw conclusions about their quality.
- How would you generally assess the business climate in Ukraine, apart from the war factor?
- I think the answer is obvious, and the state of affairs is obvious, and the reasons for this state of affairs are obvious, and unfortunately, the consequences are predictable. Our business operates in an Arctic climate, with constant storms and hurricanes like "Katrina".
- The "Manifesto 42" movement of entrepreneurs held actions in your defence to bring Vinnikov to justice, and now you are an example of businessmen uniting to protect their rights. Tell us more about this.
- We received some support from them and from the Automaidan NGO. We received quite strong support from them when the appeal against the decision to impose a personal detention on Vinnikov was being considered. Their actions are quite effective; 30 minutes after the action outside the Prosecutor General's Office, we were given a meeting with the procedural supervisor. We discussed all the issues that concerned us, including certain shortcomings on the part of the prosecutor's office, and we were heard. Thus, the prosecutor's office filed a motion to impose on Vinnikov a preventive measure in the form of detention with the possibility of posting a cash bail. However, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv once again showed a "humane" attitude towards the former prosecutor's office employee, who is accused of embezzling (stealing) the entrepreneur's funds. In other words, entrepreneurs have the law, prosecutors have permissiveness.
- Have you calculated your losses due to the actual shutdown of your business as a result of searches and seizure of property?
- So far, no one has calculated the losses. Indeed, these funds were supposed to be invested in business activities, so this can be regarded as a lost profit. In addition, some of the funds were withdrawn in hryvnia, and the exchange rate was different a year ago. But now the question is to at least get back what was stolen.
Olha Skorokhod, Censor. NET
