Venediktova on incident in office of Ukreximbank board chairman: We won't cover up madness demonstrated by employees of state bank, responsibility inevitable

KYIV. Oct 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova states that the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) cannot and will not cover up the insanity demonstrated by the employees of the state bank.

"I want to urgently respond to the incident related to the brutal use of force against journalists in the office of a state bank. There is no room for thought in this matter – a fair and effective investigation, suspicion notice, referral to court, a sentence rendering. We, at the PGO cannot and will not cover, excuse me, the madness demonstrated by the employees of the state bank," Venediktova wrote on her Facebook page.

She stressed that the reaction to an act must be adequate in our state, and the PGO will prove this. Venediktova added that the memorandum signed with media organizations is not just a formality.

"Obstacles to journalists cannot be cleared from flash drives – responsibility is inevitable. The resignation will not change the essence of the problem. Prosecutors and police are actively working to investigate this simply unacceptable incident," the prosecutor general said.

Venediktova also said that in the near future, investigative actions will take place with the injured journalist and the original of the restored video recording of the conflict should be attached to the materials.

"The responsible will be notified of the suspicion. We are moving quickly and according to the law, because freedom of speech should be an inviolable value in this country," she summed up.

Earlier, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrsky said that the police had involved in the investigation materials the video from the office of Ukreximbank board chairman Yevhen Metzger, which recorded illegal actions against Radio Liberty journalists.

Also, the press service of Ukreximbank (Kyiv) reported that head of the bank’s board Yevhen Metzger, who attacked the journalists of the Schemes TV program during the recording of an interview in the bank building, wrote a letter of resignation for the period of the investigation into the incident.

As Radio Liberty earlier reported, on Monday, October 4, the camera crew of the Skhemy (Schemes) television program was attacked during an interview with Ukreximbank Board Chairman Yevhen Metzger, allegedly because of one of the questions they did not like. According to the head of Schemes Natalia Sedletska, the bank employees took away two cameras, took away the cards on which the recording was carried out, and deleted the recorded video. According to journalists, all this time the camera crew remained locked in the office of the head of the bank’s board in his presence. An hour later, the equipment was returned to the camera crew, but the video of the entire interview and the attack itself was removed.

The police in Kyiv reported that, at the request of journalists, the necessary investigative actions are being carried out, criminal proceedings have been started under Part 1 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists.

Ukreximbank rejected the accusations of violating the law and, in turn, accused them of provocation and an attempt to seize banking secrets. According to the financial institution, the actions of the journalists contained signs of both illegal seizure of bank secrets and violation of the Code of Ethics of a Ukrainian journalist in terms of using illegal methods of obtaining information.

The bank said that in this situation, it is considering the possibility of contacting law enforcement agencies and bodies regulating activities in the field of television and radio broadcasting.

Metzger was appointed head of the bank’s board in March 2020. The head of the supervisory board of the financial institution is an independent member Oliana Hordiyenko. Dimitri Chichlo, Serhiy Konovets, Dominique Menu and Laszlo Urban are also independent members of the Supervisory Board. The Cabinet of Ministers is represented by Yuriy Butsa, the Verkhovna Rada by Yuriy Terentyev, and the Office of the President by Viktoria Strakhova.

According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of June 1, 2021, Ukreximbank ranked third in terms of total assets (UAH 252.350 billion) among 73 banks operating in the country.