The High Anti-Corruption Court did not allow the head of the Antimonopoly Committee, Pavlo Kyrylenko, to travel abroad to Paris, France, for events of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from December 2 to December 6.
Such a decision was made by the HACC on November 29.
Kyrylenko’s defender requested the temporary lifting of the following obligations: the prohibition on leaving Kyiv, the surrender of foreign passports, and the wearing of an electronic bracelet. According to the lawyer, the AMCU is designated as the sole body responsible for cooperation with the OECD. The prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office did not grant permission to travel, prompting the defense to turn to the court. As the lawyer claims, Kyrylenko was personally invited to these events, and his trip was approved by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in a letter dated November 29.
However, investigative judge Lesya Fedorak refused to grant Kyrylenko permission to travel. She noted that according to the law on the AMCU, the responsibilities for the committee’s cooperation with international organizations, state bodies, and non-governmental organizations of other countries lie with the first deputy or deputy head of the AMCU. Kyrylenko himself should have assigned this duty to them. The judge also pointed out that although Kyrylenko was personally invited to the events, it is likely that this was preceded by other information provided to the OECD organizers by the Ukrainian side regarding representatives of Ukraine.
Shmyhal’s letter also does not contain instructions regarding Kyrylenko’s direct participation in OECD events, as it only approves the foreign trip. Additionally, a condition for the prime minister’s approval of Kyrylenko’s foreign trip was a letter justifying the necessity of the trip, which the defense did not provide. It is likely that such a letter was initiated by Kyrylenko himself, as the head of the AMCU.
"The petition is denied. The ruling takes effect from the moment of its announcement," the decision states.