Prosecutors searched several locations of Ukraine’s largest private delivery company, Nova Poshta, on March 17.
Prosecutors investigated offices and warehouses in Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Odesa and Lviv. They seized documents on financial activity and unregistered cash, prosecutors said. The company denies wrongdoing and will appeal the actions.
“For the first time in my career, my office and I personally are searched,” co-founder of the company Volodymyr Popereshnyuk wrote on his Facebook page. His office was searched for eight hours, he said. “I am witnessing how investment climate is improving in Ukraine,” Popereshnyuk added sarcastically.
Larysa Sargan, a spokeswoman for Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, said prosecutors are conducting a pre-trial investigation of a criminal proceeding, on suspicion of abuse of office and tax evasion. She said that all investigative actions are taking place lawfully. “Therefore, it is not worth talking about damaging of the investment climate in the country,” she said.
No notices of suspicion have been introduced or arrests made, she said.
The company said it was prosecutors who are abusing their powers. In one office in Kharkiv, prosecutors confiscated cash that belonged to a client via money transfer, the statement from Nova Poshta said. “Despite all the obstacles, we will continue to develop and invest in Ukraine,” Popereshnyuk wrote. “We believe in its future.”
He also added that being a legal — or “white” — company and paying all taxes in Ukraine is difficult and dangerous. “But we must be transparent to foreign partners and investors,” he said.
Additionally, the company suffered cyber-attacks on March 17. The viruses had little effect outside of short-term interruptions, Nova Poshta said.
Founded in 2001, Nova Poshta has now over 2,300 delivery centers around Ukraine as well as international representative offices in Moldova and Georgia. Since 2014, the company has introduced international delivery.
