On 28 January 2021, the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine upheld the acquittal in relation to Vladimir Sivak, former director of ZTMC, due to the lack of corpus delict.
“Vladimir Sivak was found not guilty. The court once again confirmed that all the accusations against him have no legal basis. These proceedings in relation to ZTMC general director was a demonstrative punishment. Illegal fabrication of criminal cases against Vladimir Sivak was only part of a larger plan for ZTMC hostile takeover, which at the moment involves influential customers, public officials, as well as representatives of some law enforcement agencies who facilitate the implementation of this plan. We are talking not only about the management of the State Property Fund of Ukraine or NABU detectives who have turned the life of an honest person into a nightmare over the past five years. This illegal seizure plan consists of three points: to take hostage the top manager of the company, to deprive ZTMC minority shareholder of its legitimate right to purchase 51% of the company’s shares, and to push for reprivatization of 49% of ZTMC’s shares by taking them from a private investor of the company. Today we destroyed one of the points of this plan. We will destroy other points as well,” Roman Chishinsky, the lawyer of Vladimir Sivak, commented on the court decision.
For more than 5 years, Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and NABU have unreasonably accused Vladimir Sivak of allegedly misappropriating ZTMC funds. However, during all this time, the anti-corruption agencies have not been able to prove ZTMC director guilty.
“Despite the political pressure, the Anti-Corruption Court by its decision denied the accusations of anti-corruption agencies and confirmed that all actions of Vladimir Sivak as ZTMC director were performed purely within the bounds of the law. We consider it unacceptable for prosecutors to fabricate criminal cases for political reasons or at the request of the raiders. You can talk to the world about “investment nannies” as much as you like, but illegal seizure of companies and criminal prosecution of top managers, unfortunately, still remains the hallmark of our country. However, it should not go unnoticed that honest courts are gradually becoming the hallmark of our country, that serve justice and offer protection against illegal attempts to put a person behind the bars just because someone wanted to misappropriate some company,” added Chishinsky.
At the moment, this is the first and only acquittal in the history of the Appeals Chamber of the Anti-Corruption Court.
Zaporizhzhya Titanium and Magnesium Combine LLC is jointly owned by the state (51% through the State Property Fund of Ukraine) and Tolexis Trading Ltd (49%).