The Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak attended a meeting of representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Business Ombudsman Council, the Council for Entrepreneurship Support in the Conditions of Martial Law under the President of Ukraine, and Ukrainian business associations.
The participants discussed the findings of the criminal proceedings audit recommended by the National Security and Defense Council decision "On Urgent Measures to Ensure Economic Security for the Period of Martial Law", enacted by the Presidential Decree No. 21/2024 of January 23, 2024.
Overall, the audit showed that more than 1.4 million criminal proceedings were registered in Ukraine, and only 0.5% of them are related to business. Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi reported that the audit resulted in the closure of one out of five criminal proceedings related to the economic sector. In addition, the number of searches and seizures of business property dropped by half over the past three months.
Furthermore, the Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin signed the order on the approval of the Standards of prosecutors' performance in investment protection, extending their mandatory application to all prosecutors. The members of the Presidential Council for Entrepreneurship and leading business associations joined the development of the updated Standards. The Standards, in particular, stipulate that a search is an extreme investigative procedure and that the need for a seizure requires proof and consideration of whether it will lead to the suspension of the business activity of the enterprise.
Andriy Yermak thanked the team of the Prosecutor General's Office for their work and added that the next step should be increasing the level of transparency and digitization of data on criminal justice activities.
"Three months ago, there was a signal for the entire law enforcement system that putting pressure on honest business is unacceptable. Today we have tangible practical results. We can also confidently say that the state and business are ready to cooperate and overcome challenges together," the Head of the Presidential Office said.
Andriy Yermak thanked the business representatives for continuing to develop their enterprises and supporting the Ukrainian economy and the Defence Forces.