10 June 2021, Thursday, 14:53 163

Court Acquits Mykolaiv Ex-Governor And Hero Of Ukraine Romanchuk For Bribe Of USD 90,000 Due To Violation Of Rules Of Jurisdiction

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The central district court of Mykolaiv acquitted the former head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, the hero of Ukraine, Mykola Romanchuk, for receiving USD 90,000 in bribe in 2016 due to violation of the rules of jurisdiction.

The court has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Romanchuk was charged with a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code (abuse of influence by prior conspiracy by a group of persons).

In particular, he was accused of suggesting to the head of the enterprise to influence the decision by the management and members of the Mykolaiv regional council to agree on special permits for the development of an industrial limestone deposit for providing illegal benefits.

Later, according to the indictment, through direct executors, Romanchuk received an unlawful benefit for influencing the decision to develop subsoil in two tranches in the amount of USD 10,000 and USD 80,000.

During the trial, Romanchuk pleaded not guilty.

After examining the case materials, the panel of judges came to the conclusion about a number of gross violations by the pre-trial investigation body of the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code, which led to the recognition of a number of evidence of the prosecution, in particular materials of covert investigative (search) actions, inadmissible, which made it impossible for the court to use them during the sentencing.

At the same time, it was established that in the course of the pre-trial investigation, the norms of jurisdiction were violated, and it was carried out by an unauthorized body, namely the military prosecutor's office.

The court concluded that the pre-trial investigation authority did not prove the commission of the criminal offense of which Romanchuk was accused.

Taking into account the evidence examined, the panel of judges decided to recognize Romanchuk as innocent and to acquit, to cancel the decision on the seizure of property seized during the search at his place of residence and work, and also to cancel the measure of restraint in the form of bail.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in 2016, the military prosecutor's office brought Romanchuk's charge of accepting a bribe of USD 90,000 to the court.

On June 3, 2016, law enforcement officers detained Romanchuk while receiving a bribe of USD 90,000.

The court arrested him, but he was released from custody on bail of UAH 5.5 million.