Case description
On February 23, 2022, the HACC found Yurii Hrymchak, former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, guilty of promising a private company to collect a debt from another company in court for USD 100,000. He was sentenced to 10 years with full confiscation of property.
In August 2019, the SSU, the NABU, and the PGO detained Yurii Hrymchak, former Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories, and Ihor Ovdiyenko, his assistant, while receiving part of a USD 480,000 bribe.
The total amount of the bribe was estimated at USD 1.1 million. In return for this money, the former official allegedly promised to ensure the approval of project documentation for construction works on the territory of Kyiv's cultural heritage, as well as to resolve a civil claim in the Supreme Court for a separate tranche of USD 100,000 (later the amount was reduced to USD 80,000).
According to the investigation, before the arrest, Hrymchak and his assistant had already received two tranches of USD 30,000 and USD 50,000, some of which were later discovered by law enforcement officers. The larger bribe was allegedly to be distributed among the heads and officials of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Justice, the Kyiv City State Administration, and others.
The agencies reacted quickly: The Ministry of Culture denied any involvement in the approval of any construction projects, and the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories stated that Hrymchak's detention was not related to his work in the agency and was not related to his duties as deputy minister.
On August 19, 2019, the case was investigated by the SBI, and two months later, the Prosecutor General's Office assigned jurisdiction to the NABU. This procedural maneuver gave the defense a reason to claim significant violations of jurisdiction during the investigation.
In the summer of 2020, the European Court of Human Rights opened a case against Ukraine following a statement of Yurii Hrymchak regarding violations of Article 5, clauses 1 and 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In the lawsuit, Hrymchak asked the ECHR to confirm the violation of his right to liberty and security of person and to explain the reasons for his arrest and the charges against him. The former official's position was based on the fact that he was allegedly being illegally prosecuted, and that the case against him was falsified and politicized.
The case against Ihor Ovdiyenko, Hrymchak's assistant and relative, was closed due to the death of the accused person. However, Hrymchak's actions were classified under Article 190, part 4; Article 27, part 4; Article 15, part 2; Article 369, part 3, Article 27, part 3; Article 15, part 2; Article 369, part 4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The HACC found him guilty and sentenced him to 10 years in prison with confiscation of all his property.
