“Without suspicion and interrogation: Zima still heads the legal department of the NBU, despite the open criminal caseDespite the open criminal proceedings, the chief lawyer of the NBU, Oleksandr Zima, was not served with a suspicion notice.
Investigative actions are not actually carried out, and the official remains in office.”, — write: unn.ua
Back in late 2023, the State Bureau of Investigation opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – abuse of power or official position, which caused serious consequences. The basis was the interference of Zyma, who is also the chairman of the administrative council of the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals, in court proceedings by sending a letter on behalf of the National Bank of Ukraine to the Fund with a “recommendation” to withdraw 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 the fines in the amount of almost 63.5 million hryvnias, imposed by the regulator.
The Fund followed the recommendation-instruction, which, according to the co-owner of the bank, Olena Sosiedka, deprived the bank’s shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial.
Later, the investigation of the criminal proceedings was transferred to the Pechersk Police Department in the city of Kyiv, whose investigators recognized Concord co-owners Olena and Yulia Sosiedka 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 applying to the court to remove him from office.
However, almost a year and a half after the registration of the proceedings, the procedural shifts in the Zyma case look minimal – the main figure has not yet been served with a notice of suspicion and has not been interrogated. Former judge Oleksandr Sytnykov noted that such delays are a characteristic feature of investigations of official crimes.
Official crimes, frankly speaking, are very often delayed
According to him, the Criminal Procedure Code is currently more loyal to investigators, so they can delay the investigation and postpone the moment of notification of suspicion, or not bring any charges at all.
It happens that they even fictitiously put someone on the wanted list in order to stop (the investigation – ed.) the proceedings, this is such an extreme case that they (the investigators – ed.) do
Control over the course of the pre-trial investigation, the lawyer emphasizes, is formally assigned to the procedural supervisor, i.e. the prosecutor. He is responsible for compliance with the terms and legality of investigative actions. But in practice, even filing complaints by victims has limited effectiveness and does not always speed up the investigation. In addition to complaints to the prosecutor, he said, victims can go to court to demand investigative actions.
Therefore, in principle, there are different ways, but the effectiveness is so-so, you understand. You can file a complaint against the prosecutor, because there is its former disciplinary commission, the prosecutor’s office, which then goes to the Supreme Council of Justice. In principle, this option may also be. This is if the prosecutor no longer responds to your request regarding this
At the same time, according to Sytnykov, it is not necessary to talk about the real equality of the parties in criminal proceedings, because, in fact, at the stage of pre-trial investigation, the interests of the victim are not represented by anyone except his lawyer, and the defender has a limited arsenal of tools.
Even with a lawyer, they (the victims – ed.) are still limited in providing evidence, limited in familiarizing themselves with the materials according to the rules. That is, complaints from the victim are very often ignored, because there is no proper protection from the state. That is, the prosecutor does not actually perform his functions to support the prosecution and protect the rights of the victim
While the Zyma case is actually hanging in the air, and there is no progress on it, the National Bank remains silent about the obvious official crime of the regulator’s chief lawyer. Oleksandr Zyma himself continues to hold office and represent the interests of the NBU in courts. Moreover, he has no restrictions on communication with witnesses in the criminal proceedings, not to mention the possibility of concealing or distorting evidence in the case.
Human rights activists and experts emphasize that such inaction of the pre-trial investigation bodies can be regarded as a form of sabotage, which gives officials the opportunity to avoid responsibility.
It is worth noting that even the Pechersk District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Kyiv demands that investigators activate the investigation of criminal proceedings regarding the possible abuse of power or official position, which caused serious consequences by the director of the legal department of the National Bank of Ukraine, Oleksandr Zyma