Businessman Yaroslavsky's DCH Group announces searches by national police without court sanction

Businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky's DCH Group announced that searches were conducted on Thursday in the office premises of enterprises in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.

According to the group's press release, on Thursday, May 29, operatives of the Department of Strategic Investigations under the leadership of Andriy Rubel and investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police conducted searches, in particular, seizing documentation, computer equipment, and data storage devices, etc.

DCH states that it considers these mass searches to be illegal, as they exert unjustified pressure on the group's business activities, and as a consequence of the fact that previous illegal actions of law enforcement officers were appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office, the General Administrative Court of the National Police of Ukraine, and the State Administrative Court of the National Police of Ukraine.

"The latest actions of the National Police are a gross violation of the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and the Constitution. This is politically motivated pressure on legal business. Such investigative actions can be qualified as persecution. They cannot be applied to a business that operates openly, reports, pays taxes, and constantly cooperates with law enforcement officers on all issues," DCH legal advisor Olena Lysytska said.

The press release specifies that on May 29, 2025, investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, together with operational officers of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, conducted large-scale searches of employees and legal addresses of enterprises of the DCH group of companies within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 42022000000000719 dated June 16, 2022. The formal justification was the application of the procedure under Part 3 of Article 233 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine – without a ruling from the investigating judge.

It is stated that in some cases, forced entry into housing was carried out by breaking the door; personal and work property was seized without an inventory and procedural registration; the right to a lawyer was denied, violating Article 59 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

Part 3 of Article 233 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which is used as a basis for searches, is provided exclusively for urgent cases, when it comes to direct observation of the commission of a crime and the need for an urgent response. In the same case, the proceedings were opened in 2022; in 2023, searches were already carried out in compliance with the procedure; no new facts that would justify the urgency have arisen; no representative or employee of DCH companies has the status of a suspect.

The company recalls that the searches are being carried out again. On May 10, 2023, searches were already carried out at the same addresses and within the same proceedings, but on the basis of decisions of investigating judges of Pechersky District Court of Kyiv. According to the results of previous investigative actions, the seized property was returned to the owners only after filing numerous complaints and court decisions, including after more than a year, and sometimes after almost two years. Moreover, on May 22 and 23, 2025, representatives of the companies filed complaints with the Prosecutor General's Office, the General Directorate of the National Police and the Special Directorate of the National Police – precisely regarding the unlawful pressure on the companies within the framework of this proceeding. In response, on May 29, a second wave of unfounded searches was carried out throughout the territory of Ukraine.

"We are accused of fictitiousness of enterprises. What kind of fictitiousness can we talk about when the enterprises of the DCH group are an operating business with real economic activity, which pays billions in taxes to the state budget of Ukraine. They are employers for thousands of citizens and play an important role in the domestic economy. According to the results of 2024, the companies of the DCH group paid UAH 2.3 billion in tax payments," Head of the DCH public relations department Yevhen Moroz said.

On May 22, 2025, during the pretrial investigation, a letter from one of the shareholders of PJSC Ukrtatnafta was officially attached, which clearly states that Oleksandr Yaroslavsky never had any influence on decision-making in PJSC Ukrtatnafta, did not receive any dividends, did not have indirect beneficial ownership and did not control the activities of the company.

As noted in the press release, information appeared in the information field that the shareholder of DCH Yaroslavsky is currently wanted by Interpol. This information is not true: currently the shareholder of DCH has no status in the specified criminal case.

"DCH Group companies challenge illegal actions in court, appeal to authorities and international institutions to protect their rights and reputation, and inform the public and partners about real threats to the rule of law in Ukraine," legal representative of DCH Group companies, lawyer, CEO and partner of ProfiLegal law firm Viktoria Levchenko said.

DCH Investment Management is a financial and industrial group of companies that manages investments in ore mining and metallurgy, mechanical engineering, real estate, insurance, banking and hotel business. It has many years of experience in effective investment in Ukraine.