Prosecutor General’s Office returned the documents of the cement plant

Subject of complaint: Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO)
Complaint in brief: On April 6, 2017, the Complainant, a cement plant, addressed the BOC to help challenge the PGO’s removal of the company’s application to renew a special permit for subsoil use on the previous month. The application was seized during a search of the office of Derzhgeonadra, the State Geology and Mineral Resources Service. This threatened Complainant’s operations as he could not timely renew the permit for extraction of limestone used in cement manufacturing. 
Action taken: The day after receiving the complaint, the BOC investigator found out in a phone conversation with a highly placed official at the Geological Service that the seizure of the Complainant’s documents from the Service was allowed by a March 13 search warrant issued by an investigative judge at the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv. The warrant was related to a criminal case that does not involve the Complainant. 
On April 11, the Deputy Business Ombudsman appealed to the PGO to return seized documents belonging to the Complainant, referring to the fact that in case of delayed renewal of special permit, the enterprise would have to stop its operations.
Result achieved: Following the Council’s intervention, the PGO returned the Complainant’s papers to the Geological Service on April 12. On April 13, a week after the complaint had been lodged with the Council, the Complainant notified the BOC that the situation had been resolved successfully. The case was soon closed.