GOLAW has successfully represented the interests of Vita Solar LLC – one of the leading investors in the Ukrainian renewable energy sector, a subsidiary of the Canadian company TIU Canada.
In 2019, based on the results of unscheduled on-site audit, conducted by the Directorate-General of State Fiscal Service of Ukraine in Mykolaiv Region, Vita Solar LLC received VAT budget refunds. This fact became a basis for the criminal prosecutions on the company’s activities.
Thus, information on committing criminal offenses, provided by Part 5 of Article 191 and Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, was submitted to the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations. The pre-trial investigation body was the territorial department of the State Bureau of Investigations, located in the city of Mykolaiv.
The information on committing the mentioned above criminal offenses was introduced to the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations by the prosecutor of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine .
The essence of the criminal proceedings, in particular, was based the statements that during the period of 2018-2019 the officials of the Directorate-General of State Fiscal Service of Ukraine in Mykolaiv Region, in order to obtain an unlawful benefit for themselves and acting on a prior conspiracy with the employees of the affiliated enterprises - Vita Solar LLC and its counterparties - secured a VAT budget reimbursement for Vita Solar LLC which caused serious consequences. In turn, according to the investigators, Vita Solar LLC officials seized state money (received in the form of a VAT budget reimbursement) by abuse of their official positions.
Based on the mentioned information, all funds of Vita Solar LLC, held in its bank accounts and in the State Treasury of Ukraine, were seized without the right to carry out expenditure transactions (except for tax payments). As a result of the seizure, the activity of Vita Solar LLC was blocked, namely, the company was put at risk of non-fulfillment of economic obligations, including returning of the credit funds received for the solar power station construction.
The lawyers of the Criminal Law and White Collar Defence practice chaired by GOLAW Partner Igor Glushko developed a winning defence strategy which included preparation of all necessary documents and with their further submission to the courts and law enforcement authorities. Attorneys’ prompt and accurate actions led to the release of unreasonably frozen assets within the shortest time possible and closing of the criminal proceeding due to the absence of any offence.
The project was run by a team of GOLAW attorneys: Senior Partner Sergiy Oberkovych, Partner Igor Glushko, Partner Angelika Moiseeva, and Senior Associate Kristina Kolchynska.