Parliament distorted recovery of assets of bankrupt banks
On June 30, parliament adopted draft law No. 4547, which provided for amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on the procedure of filing civil lawsuits in criminal proceedings in interests of depositors of bankrupt banks. This law is one of the conditionalities for cooperation between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund.
The draft law aimed to increase the chances of recovering stolen funds from banks to depositors, but one amendment distorted the idea. The amendment practically blocked the Deposit Guarantee Fund from filing lawsuits in interests of depositors of bankrupt banks.
Parliament is also considering draft law No. 5141 on Asset Recovery and Management Agency. If adopted, the law will significantly harm the asset recovery process in criminal matters.
How oligarchic media spread anti-reform propaganda in Ukraine
The recent analysis of the talk show “Hard with Vlashchenko” aired on Rinat Akhmetov’s widely-watched Ukraine 24 channel showed that the channel heavily contributes to smearing key reform efforts and undermining people’s trust in the country’s democratization.
This is a typical narrative for oligarchic media to make Ukrainians believe international partners’ only interest in Ukraine is to exploit its resources. While at the same time oligarchs themselves benefit from Western investments. This is a prime example of the fact that the success of Ukrainian deoligarchization will depend not only on domestic efforts. The responsibility also lies with Western partners who should stop tolerating anti-reform propaganda spreaders (see the full column).
NABU completed an investigation into the VAB Bank case
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine informed about the completion of an investigation regarding 14 persons involved in the scheme of embezzlement of Hr 1.2 billion stabilization loan from VAB Bank. The suspects include nine National Bank officials, including the ex-first deputy head Oleksandr Pysaruk, managers of VAB Bank and related companies.
The investigation with regards to the owner of the bank Oleg Bakhmatyuk is temporarily suspended as he fled the country and got on the wanted list. His extradition is currently illegally blocked by Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. There are also numerous attempts to interfere with NABU’s investigation.
