The Solomiansky District Court of Kyiv has ordered the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to open criminal proceedings against former Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko. The decision was the result of a complaint by the lawyer of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, which is headed by Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The plaintiffs demand an investigation into the alleged misuse of budget funds in the amount of 1.9 million hryvnias, as well as the wasteful spending of another 29.5 million hryvnias. The complaint includes not only former Minister Tkachenko, but also his former deputy Rostyslav Karandeyev and officials of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve.
Previously, NABU refused to open proceedings, not seeing signs of a criminal offense. However, the court decided that the information provided in the complaint required verification as part of the criminal process, and ordered detectives to register a case.
The public initiative comes from representatives of the UOC-MP, who, against the backdrop of a long-standing conflict over the use of the Lavra premises, accuse representatives of state authorities of violations. Oleksandr Tkachenko himself has not yet commented on the court decision.
The court's decision does not yet mean proof of guilt, but it requires law enforcement to begin an official investigation. NABU must enter data into the ERDR and begin verifying the facts set forth in the complaint.
