Ukrainian entrepreneurs are constantly under pressure from the security forces, and recently the number of criminal proceedings against businesses has increased, but most of them are falsified. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Viktor Moskovchenko, owner of the Medinova company and member of the NGO Manifesto42.
"The pressure on business has increased dramatically. Last year, the number of criminal proceedings increased by about 2.6 times. Most of them are falsified proceedings. Now everything is against business. There are no decisions in favor of business," says Moskovchenko.
He noted that there are currently 78 authorities in Ukraine that can close any Ukrainian business.
"We have the Bolshevik system, and it hasn't gone away. It has been there since the 17th century. Businesses are bourgeois and kulaks, they need to be robbed, to take everything. 'Mask shows', raider attacks, and so on, there is no pressure here - there is a permanent robber," the entrepreneur believes.
Mr. Moskovchenko also said that his company and its contractors faced pressure from the security forces. For example, law enforcement officers conducted searches at his contractor's premises, seized cash, and then the money "disappeared" from the prosecutor's office safe.
Context
At the end of January, members of the government's economic bloc and the Verkhovna Rada leadership held a closed meeting with businessmen. The topic of the meeting was the pressure of law enforcement agencies on business amid the arrest of businessman Ihor Mazepa and searches at Concorde Capital.
After that, on January 23, a three-month moratorium was imposed on procedural actions that could lead to the blocking of businesses. This ban has long since expired, but members of the Manifesto42 movement have called for an extension of the so-called moratorium on "mask shows.
Add
Recently, a new high-profile scandal has shaken the business community. The Gulliver shopping and entertainment complex and business center, owned by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Polishchuk, is being transferred to the ARMA. According to representatives of Gulliver, this decision grossly violates procedural and substantive law and actually means a business takeover with the assistance of law enforcement and security agencies.