Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has introduced criminal liability for the seizure of buildings, facilities, and other buildings of enterprises, institutions, organizations or for other undue interference in the activity of enterprises, institutions and organizations in the absence of signs of countering legitimate economic activity, which leads to the disruption of their normal operation.
A respective law on improving the legal regulation of the activity of
legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, which was drafted by the
Cabinet of Ministers and which introduces amendments to the Criminal
Code, was signed by the head of state on December 27, 2013.
The law, in particular, complements the Criminal Code with articles
on the seizure of buildings, facilities or other buildings of
enterprises, institutions and organizations or other undue interference
in the activity of enterprises, institutions and organizations, and
foresees punishment for that in the form of the restriction or
deprivation of liberty for a term of up to two years.
The same actions committed on preliminary collusion by a group of
persons or in a dangerous manner are punished by imprisonment for a term
of two to five years.
The same actions committed with the participation of employees of
private security organizations or associated with violence dangerous to
life or health, if they result in serious consequences, are punished
with imprisonment for a term of five to ten years, with confiscation of
property.
Moreover, the law introduces criminal liability for including in the
documents that are submitted for state registration of a legal entity of
deliberately false information if this caused considerable material
damage to a legal entity, its members/founders or another person.
The law also expands the list of violations of the order of
registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, envisaging
administrative responsibility not only for the violation of the
established terms for the state registration of legal entities and
individual entrepreneurs, the violation of the terms of issuance of
certificates on state registration or requesting the documents for state
registration not stipulated by law, but also for other violations of
the order of state registration established by law.
