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19
November
2021

Ukraine remains major hub of cybercrime, but becoming reliable partner in fight against it – Prosecutor General

KYIV. Nov 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine remains one of the main hubs for cybercriminals; in 2021, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) received more than 70 requests from foreign countries to investigate cybercrime crimes, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said.

During a break in the International Forum devoted to cybersecurity Venediktova told reporters that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies can demonstrate effective work. "When we say that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies can cooperate… with the FBI, with Eurojust, and other colleagues of other law enforcement agencies, this suggests that Ukraine is becoming a reliable partner in such relations," the prosecutor general said.

According to her, at the beginning of this year, foreign colleagues expressed distrust by cooperating with Ukrainian law enforcement officers on cybercrimes.

"When the first implementations with German prosecutors started, they didn’t even really want to transfer materials to us and off-rec they said: what can you do with your Ukrainian colleagues – wait for these materials to be leaked, and the materials have something, let’s say, to leak… Therefore, the demonstration that the Ukrainian partners are reliable, strong enough and they can cooperate at the proper level is very good," Venediktova said.

Speaking at the forum in Kyiv, she said that the PGO, as the central body for international cooperation, is constantly taking measures to qualitatively implement requests for international legal assistance from competent authorities of foreign states in cases of crimes that are transnational in nature and relate to the activities of international cyber groups.

"Throughout 2020, we have received 60 requests from the competent authorities of the United States, Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, South Korea, Poland and other countries regarding the investigation of crimes in the field of cybercrime. In 10 months of this year, the PGO received more than 70 such requests," the Prosecutor General said.

"The world is interested in cooperation. The world understands that we have already come to digitalization. Digital reality is another level of complexity that we face. We want to demonstrate that we are ready to enter this level of complexity," Venediktova said.