Policy

Court, sanctions and high treason: what is behind the division of the Poroshenko’s property

On Tuesday, April 29, the Kryzhopil District Court of Vinnytsia Region began the process of dividing the property of the Poroshenko couple. Maryna Poroshenko filed a lawsuit.

And since the value of the claim is UAH 17,102,703,811.40, which exceeds 250 times the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, this case is subject to consideration in the general action proceedings in a court hearing with the parties being notified (summoned).

On the one hand, the leader of the European Solidarity party, MP and former president of Ukraine is not the first to divide property, but there are certain circumstances. These issues were analyzed by [Kommersant]

Petro Poroshenko did not appear in the Kryzhopil court. His interests were represented by lawyer Igor Golovan, who explained to the journalists present that his client was unable to conclude a property division agreement with his wife Marina Poroshenko because of the sanctions imposed, which prevented them from jointly disposing of this property. At the same time, no sanctions have been imposed on Maryna Poroshenko, the couple owns joint property and she has the right to dispose of it, but the sanctions decree against her husband prevents her from doing so.

“Accordingly, we are talking about this array of property that the Poroshenko spouses happen to have – something needs to be done with it, somehow disposed of and managed. And this ban on transactions prevents Maryna Anatoliivna, who is also the owner of these assets, from managing and disposing of her own property,” Golovan explained.

The lawyer noted that the couple has “quite large assets” (over UAH 17 billion), their ownership structure is quite complex, but “they are now trying to destroy it, to violate the rights of the owner.”

Criminal case, seizure of property and sanctions

The claim for property division coincided with the completion of the investigation into the so-called “coal case”. The SBI and the SBU suspect former President Petro Poroshenko of high treason and facilitating the activities of a terrorist organization (in particular, facilitating the supply of coal from the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Ukrainian state-owned enterprises). A number of the former president’s assets and property are under arrest, imposed by the Pechersk District Court in January 2022.

According to UNN, citing sources in law enforcement, on Monday, April 28, the SBI allegedly sent the case to court after three years of review.

In addition, the President of Ukraine imposed sanctions against Poroshenko by a decree of February 12 this year. These include the asset freeze: temporary deprivation of the right to use and dispose of assets belonging to an individual or legal entity, as well as assets in respect of which such a person may directly or indirectly (through other individuals or legal entities) perform actions identical in content to the exercise of the right to dispose of them; suspension of economic and financial obligations. Mr. Poroshenko appealed these sanctions to the Supreme Court of Ukraine, claiming that they were unlawful.

The court may refuse to divide the property

Be that as it may, the very fact that Petro Poroshenko is accused of a serious crime that involves not only life imprisonment but also confiscation of all property may negatively affect the Kryzhopil court’s decision to divide the billion-dollar property. As noted by lawyer Mykola Musienko in a commentary for "Komersant Ukrainian", the court is obliged to examine all the circumstances of the case and, if it turns out that one of the spouses is under investigation, and even under articles that provide for confiscation, there is reason to believe that the division of property is an attempt to hide it.

“Today, the division of property between spouses has become very popular to get them out of the “hit”. Even the Verkhovna Rada has already spoken out about the legality of this method, especially if the property has already been seized. This is when it comes to dishonest behavior, when one of the spouses is involved in a criminal case involving the recovery of property, in which case the court may refuse to divide the property,” notes Mykola Musienko.

Formally, spouses, even if they are married, have the right to divide property. But the courts must examine all the circumstances of the case and check whether there is a “catch”.

“And the so-called ‘declarants’ – those who have to declare their property – are very fond of dividing property in court. They try to hide it. That is, for example, they divorce their wives, divide their property, but in the end it turns out that the ex-wife has all the property. And he has nothing,” emphasizes lawyer Musienko.

Those who are criminally liable try their best to get rid of the property they have – to re-sign it over to their spouses or relatives, and if they fail, to renounce it in court and transfer it to another person legally.

The main thing for the suspects is to show that the property does not belong to them, so that it is not seized and sold at auction by court order. But if the property has already been seized, no one will divide it. It is all the more interesting to see what decision the Kryzhopil District Court will make.

Author: Alla Dunina