A Kyiv-based agricultural company complained to the Business Ombudsman even before the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation. The company informed the Council law enforcers delayed investigation in the criminal proceedings. The agricultural company cooperated with the counterparty and supplied it with seeds and plant protection products. The counterparty was supposed to make the final payment for the delivery by the end of autumn 2019, but it never did, and eventually launched a bankruptcy procedure. Meanwhile, the agricultural company turned to the law enforcement officers, who initiated a criminal case. At the same time, they neither performed any investigative actions for a long time, nor even interrogated persons who could be potentially involved.
While working on the complaint, the Council appealed to the National Police of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine and asked to intensify the pre-trial investigation in the case. the BOC had brought up the complaint for consideration of the Expert Group with the Prosecutor General’s Office five times, of which three meetings already fell on the active period of the full-scale war. The Council emphasized that the delay may have negative consequences on the effectiveness and compliance with the pre-trial investigation time frames.
In the summer of 2023, the agricultural company informed the Council about developments in the pre-trial investigation. In particular, the fact that investigators conducted the necessary interrogations, collected employees contacts and information about the counterparty’s bank accounts, particularly about the funds flow. As some progress was made in the investigation, the Council closed the case successfully.
