Based on decrees of an investigating judge of Kyiv Pechersk District Court L.I. Tsokol dated 10.05.2016 on proceedings No.757/21597/16-k and No.757/21599/16-k within the frame of investigating the criminal proceeding No.12015000000000564, which was added into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations (EDRDR) on 05.10.2015, with the purpose as stated in the decrees: “to reveal and seize documents that can witness the illegal taking of money and possession of this state enterprise”, on 9th June 2016 investigators of the Main Investigations Directorate of the National Policy of Ukraine conducted simultaneous searches in offices and other non-residential premises owned by the SSE Chernobyl NPP and located in Slavutych and within Exclusion Zone.
Pursuant to the above-mentioned decrees, during the searches investigators were allowed to seize originals of almost all documents for any period of time related to interaction of SSE Chernobyl NPP with unlimited set of legal bodies and individual persons, as well as “seals and stamps, draft records and working notebooks, means of communication, electronic data storage devices and computer hardware, at which the specified documents are stored in electronic format; metal scrap, metal structures and techniques and equipment for their cleaning (decontamination).”
As it follows from the content of investigating judge’s decrees and investigators’ actions, the last ones were mostly interested in the procedures made by the SSE Chernobyl NPP on procurement of works on dismantling, processing, release from regulatory control of SSE Chernobyl NPP’s equipment and structures and their subsequent sale.
Thus, during the search at the SSE ChNPP site the investigators sealed a warehouse and seized about 220 tons of dismantled pipes of MNZ alloy that belong to the enterprise.
The investigators conducted the search in office rooms of Administrative Building-2 in Slavutych with gross violation of regulations of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (CPC of Ukraine). Mostly, this reminded an action movie with taking of hostages.
The investigators violated the criminal proceeding fundamentals, in particular, a principle of respect to human dignity and enforcement of right to liberty and personal security that provide for prohibition of cruel treatment or such treatment that dishonors the personal dignity, and prohibition to restrict right for free movement.
At the beginning of the search that lasted 12 hours in a row taking into account time for drawing up a relevant protocol, neglecting the fact that in accordance with item 3 of Article 236 of the CPC of Ukraine an investigator has right only to forbid any person to leave a place of search, the investigating group leader, by overstepping his authorities, ordered to the whole personnel of SSE Chernobyl NPP, who were present at their workplaces in the AB-2, to gather in one room No.230 and do not leave it until the search completed. By doing this, the staff was not informed about time of finishing the investigating actions, as well as they were deprived of the opportunity to drink, eat, use medicaments and use mobile phones under the threat of their seizing, etc.
Only after indignant protest of SSE Chernobyl NPP staff and remarks from the enterprise’s representatives, the investigator allowed to leave the mentioned room and to use a legal right for lunch break at the same time forbidding return of the staff to their workplaces after the break except for one person for one room.
Such actions of the investigator also violated regulations of item 2 of Article 236 of CPC of Ukraine in terms of commitment to conduct a search at the time when there is the least harm to routine operations of a person – while during the search economic activity of the enterprise was almost paralyzed.
Also, without any ground the investigator dismissed a motion of the SSE Chernobyl NPP representative for granting a permission to carry out video-recording and to take pictures during the search, under threat of the video equipment seizure; it was rejected as well as to make copies for SSE Chernobyl NPP of the original documents which were seized within the search, and the investigator did not invoke any reasons or justifications for his decision.
In the course of the search the investigators seized whichever documents and things that, in their opinion, were associated with criminal proceedings, including those which were not specified in the investigating judge’s decree and were not related to the criminal proceeding, namely: electronic flash memory sticks and other data-carrying media with the SSE Chernobyl NPP officials’ digital signature required for financial operations, for example, for paying salary to the employees of the SSE Chernobyl NPP, for payments to the dismissed employees, for settling financial obligations under the contracts, etc.
The investigators committed a number of other transgressions of the criminal procedural law.
Due to such acts of the law-enforcement authorities on 9th June 2016, the normal work of the state enterprise was disturbed, the economic activity of SSE Chernobyl NPP was actually stopped. Undoubtedly, these acts will negatively influence the further work of the enterprise with regard to the facts that the investigators seized the tangible assets (MNZ pipes) which have to be sold in order to replenish the circulating assets, that it is impossible to use the sealed by the investigators units for decontamination of metal structures as well as the seized electronic digital signatures, and that a great number of documents which are necessary for normal operation of the enterprise were impounded.
Moreover, on 9th June 2016, simultaneously with the search at SSE Chernobyl NPP, based on the decree of Kyiv-Sviatoshyn District Court of Kyiv region dated 26.05.2016 within a criminal proceeding registered under No.32015110200000047 dated 07.12.2015 in the EDRDR, the Criminal Investigations Department officers of Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Joint State Tax Inspectorate Investigation Division of State Fiscal Service General Division in Kyiv region were carrying out the seizure of the documents related to the concluded within the framework of international technical assistance projects contract for dismantling of Chernobyl NPP Generation II ventilation stack.
It should be noted that the events taking place on 9th June 2016 seem to be of systematic nature. Similar “disciplinary measures” are taken by the law-enforcement authorities towards the SSE Chernobyl NPP and its top managers with unfailing regularity.
Thus, based on a decree of Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv dated 06.02.2015 within a criminal proceeding registered in the EDRDR under No.120131000310002024 dated 06.11.2013, a great number of documents, associated with the SSE Chernobyl NPP’s procurement of the service for dismantling, processing, release from regulatory control of the SSE Chernobyl NPP Unit 1 Turbine Hall equipment and structures, were seized in March 2015.
Based on a decree of Kyiv Shevchenko District Court dated April 26, 2016, under criminal proceeding registered in the EDRDR No.12016110000000029 dated February 3, 2016, in May 2016 the crime investigators of the Main Investigations Directorate of National Police in Kyiv Region made a search within offices and other non-residential premises owned by the SSE “Chernobyl NPP” and located in Slavutych and within Exclusion Zone, during which the documents were seized also relating to handling of equipment and metal structures dismantled at the Chernobyl NPP. Under this criminal proceeding, some managers of SSE “Chernobyl NPP” and contract organizations were also searched.
In addition, there are more than ten criminal cases opened regarding economic activities of SSE “Chernobyl NPP”. For a long time these cases remain open, under which the law-enforcement authorities perform investigative actions from time to time, as well as seize documents and stuff, etc.
Such pressure on the SSE Chernobyl NPP, its managers, obstruction to normal operation of the enterprise by law-enforcement and regulatory authorities lead to negative effect on state of nuclear and radiation safety of nuclear facilities, implementation of international technical assistance projects and relevant commitments to international financial institutions and donor countries, and as a whole on timely performance of activities on the Chernobyl NPP decommissioning and Shelter Object transformation into an environmentally safe system.
In regard to the events of 9th June 2016 described above, the SSE Chernobyl NPP is determined to appeal against the misconduct of the investigators as required by active law, obtain justice and seek punishment of offenders.
