Ukraine introduces corporate criminal liability for bribery of foreign officials

On 26 December 2024, the Law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, and Other Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Improve Mechanisms for Holding Legal Entities Accountable for Bribery of Foreign Officials” No. 4111-IX entered into force. It is meant to implement the OECD Council’s Recommendation on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

The Law introduces corporate criminal liability for corruption-related offences committed in foreign jurisdictions.

Offences in focus

A legal entity may now be criminally liable for:

• abuse of influence
• offering, promising, or giving bribes
• money laundering

Grounds for criminal liability

A legal entity may be prosecuted if the following conditions cumulatively apply:

• a crime is committed by an agent¹ in the interests of a legal entity
• a crime is directed towards a foreign official_²

A legal entity may be prosecuted either along with its agent suspected of a crime, or separately under a special procedure.

Liability

Criminal penalties include:

• fine of up to USD3,000,000
• confiscation of funds / assets implicated in an offence

In addition to criminal penalties, the court may impose non-financial measures:

• temporary business restrictions (including disqualification from public procurement or privatisation, suspension of licence, sponsorship restrictions, etc.)
• temporary benefits restrictions (including bans on receiving benefits and handouts, state aid, international project funding, etc).

A legal entity may enter into a plea deal with a prosecutor at any stage of proceedings.

Interim measures

In course of investigation the following injunctions may apply:

• prohibition to amend statutory documents
• prohibition to dispose of assets
• restrictions on material transactions
• prohibition to dissolve a legal entity

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¹ Agents include those empowered to act on behalf of a legal entity by virtue of law, articles of association, oral or written instructions.

² Foreign officials include those occupying offices in foreign governments, municipal authorities, or international organisations