Supreme Court finally acquits ex-minister Omelyan in NABU case

Ukraine's Supreme Court confirmed the acquittal of former Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan on Tuesday, who was accused by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of corruption, he reported on Facebook.

He believes that his case was fabricated for political reasons and hopes to identify those at whose behest it was done.

NABU indicted Omelyan under Part 2 of Article 211 of the Criminal Code — issuance by an official of a normative legal act that reduces revenues to the budget contrary to the law.

In September 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to reduce the rates of port fees from 2018 to increase cargo turnover. In December of the same year, Omelyan signed an order to establish a coefficient of 0.8 to the rates of port fees.

NABU tried to prove that one of these fees — the administrative fee — could only be amended by the Verkhovna Rada, therefore Omelyan's actions were illegal and led to a decrease in revenues to the state budget from the administrative fee.