EQUITY team secured a significant victory in the Supreme Court

On 4 June 2026, the Supreme Court, sitting as a panel of judges of the Second Chamber of the Cassation Criminal Court, upheld the judgment of the Desnianskyi District Court of Chernihiv dated 9 December 2024 and the ruling of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal dated 19 May 2025.

As a reminder, on 9 December 2024, the Desnianskyi District Court of Chernihiv acquitted EQUITY’s client under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The subject of the court proceedings was to determine the lawfulness of the exercise of official powers by an official during the conclusion of a supplementary agreement regarding the purchase by a municipal enterprise of diesel fuel, A-92 and A-95 petrol in a total volume of 780,000 litres for the sum of UAH 18,531,000. The court examined whether the official’s actions were in the interests of the service and whether there were grounds for classifying these actions as abuse of office.

The court found that our client’s actions did not constitute a criminal offence. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the firm’s lawyers, the client was acquitted and his innocence was proven.

Subsequently, by a ruling of the Chernihiv Court of Appeal dated 19 May 2025, the judgment of the court of first instance regarding the acquitted client of EQUITY was upheld.

The panel of judges of the Court of Cassation concurred with the findings of the Court of Appeal regarding the proper and comprehensive assessment of the evidence by the court of first instance and upheld the decision that the client’s actions did not constitute a criminal offence as provided for in Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, given that the pre-trial investigation body had failed to provide proper, reliable and admissible evidence sufficient to establish the client’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Decisions of all three courts in favour of the defence!

The case was handled by EQUITY’s criminal practice team: Councel Rodion Kokosh and Senior Associate Valeriy Kirchev, led by Partner Taras Poshivanyuk.

The EQUITY team knows how to build a defence.