Netherlands mining and metallurgical holding Metinvest B.V. (Metinvest) Ukrainian businessmen Rinat Akhmetov and Vadim Novinsky announced unprecedented unreasonable pressure on business from law enforcement agencies.
At the mining and processing enterprises of the Metinvest group in Krivoy Rog, representatives of law enforcement agencies are conducting sudden investigative actions regarding alleged tax violations, the existence of which, according to the press service of the holding, has not been established and not confirmed.
“The actions of law enforcement agencies (representatives of the SBU, BEB and the prosecutor’s office) are accompanied by numerous violations, searches are carried out illegally, computer equipment is confiscated without any legal grounds, pressure is exerted on employees of the enterprise, economic activity is partially paralyzed. In their actions, law enforcement agencies have actually appropriated the function of the tax service, trying to bypass tax legislation to establish additional tax liabilities for businesses,” Metinvest said.
They reminded that Metinvest is a conscientious Ukrainian taxpayer and a key one for budgets of all levels. In 2021, the company transferred almost UAH 53 billion of taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels in Ukraine, which is 2.4 times more than in 2020.
“The Company conducts its business activities on the basis of law and order, and in its relations with public authorities is guided by the principles of openness, integrity and business practice. Metinvest officially declares that all enterprises of the group openly and transparently interact with any regulatory authorities, including to refute false information about non-fulfillment of tax obligations. All documents requested by law enforcement agencies were provided voluntarily and continue to be provided as soon as possible,” the company noted.
Metinvest urged law enforcement agencies to refrain from illegal actions and stop pressure on the group's enterprises due to allegedly "incorrectly calculated tax deductions", which harms the business partnership between the company and Ukraine as a whole.
