The HACC discharged former Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Prysiazhniuk from criminal liability due to the expiry of the statute of limitations.

Mykola Prysiazhniuk served as a member of the Verkhovna Rada in the fifth and sixth convocations. He ran in the 2006 parliamentary elections on the Party of Regions ticket and was elected to the fifth convocation, where he served on the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy, Nature Resources Utilization and Elimination of the Consequences of Chornobyl Catastrophe.

From 2011 to 2013, Prysiazhniuk held the positions of Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine and Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, in which capacity he headed the body responsible for managing state-owned property.

According to the investigation, Prysiazhniuk was aware that a non-residential building with a total area of 11,646 sq. m, located at 24A Khreshchatyk Street, was under the Ministry's jurisdiction and had been designated by order for the Ministry of Agrarian Policy's central office.

One of the premises in the building housed the CHATEAU restaurant, operated by KRONA 2 LLC. The investigation alleged that Prysiazhniuk, acting in prior conspiracy with others and abusing his official position, facilitated the conclusion of unlawful lease agreements and the subsequent privatization of the 516.6 sq. m restaurant premises.

His actions were charged under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Prysiazhniuk left Ukraine and had been on the wanted list since 2014.

The prosecutor filed a motion noting that the criminal offense charged against Prysiazhniuk was completed on February 6, 2013, and that the statute of limitations for criminal liability had expired in February 2023.

The HACC discharged Prysiazhniuk from criminal liability under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine due to the expiry of the statute of limitations. The criminal proceedings were closed.