The Holos party has been defeated in court in an attempt to challenge an order by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) that cut off its state funding. This decision was made based on the discovery of unreliable data in the party's reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2020, which related to expenses of almost 5 million hryvnias.
The court case, which caused a wide response, took place after NAZK revealed that the Holos party transferred significant funds to the Meintis society for services that, according to the agency, were not provided. In addition, the funds were transferred to two entrepreneurs for draft laws that had not yet been registered in the Verkhovna Rada at the time of concluding the contracts.
On June 25, NAKC first stopped, and later completely stopped state funding for the "Voice" party. Party representatives, trying to cancel this order, appealed to the court, where their interests were represented by lawyers Oleksandr Denysenko and Maryna Ryashchenko. They put forward several arguments in defense of the party, but the court did not find them convincing.
Key arguments of the lawyers of the "Holos" party
- The essence of the activity of the company "Maintis": NAZK stressed that the main type of activity of the company is wholesale trade in household electrical goods, and nine other companies are registered at its address. However, party representatives claimed that "Maintis" also provides other services, in particular legal assistance, which became the basis for concluding a contract with the party.
- Tax reporting of the company: NAZK referred to data from the State Tax Service, according to which the company did not report on employees, which indicates the absence of economic activity. At the same time, the lawyers of "Golos" pointed out that the conclusions of NAKC were based on the analytical studies of the tax service, which only noted that "the financial and economic activities of Meintis LLC were probably carried out in violation of the requirements of tax legislation."
- Lack of evidence of contracts: In April 2023, a court found Maintis co-founder Kostyantyn Tsymbal guilty of a criminal offense, but the party stated that no document was signed between Tsymbal and Holos. At the same time, the signatory of the contract turned out to be Ruslan Huseynov, who claimed that he knew nothing about the signing of this contract.
- Methods of verifying reports: During the verification of the party's reports for 2020, the NAC used the procedure for analyzing the reports of political parties, approved in 2016, but already recognized as invalid in 2021. The lawyers of "Golos" stressed that the Code of Administrative Offenses should be used to determine the recurrence of violations, and not the law.
Consequences for the "Voice" party
Taking into account the detected violations, the NAKC stopped state financing of the statutory activities of the "Voice" party until the causes of the violation are eliminated. The court decision, which could not be appealed, called into question the financial transparency of the party and its ability to continue functioning.
A court hearing to overturn the funding freeze order is scheduled for September 4, but the prospects for a successful appeal seem unlikely under the current circumstances. The "Voice" party now faces the need to rehabilitate its reputation and correct its mistakes.
