On October 20, 2025, the HACC Appeals Chamber granted the prosecutor’s appeal and authorized a special pre-trial (in absentia) investigation into former MP Heorhii Lohvynskyi, suspected of organizing a scheme through which a company under his control, Golden Mandarin, received UAH 54 million from the state budget.

The panel of judges also dismissed the defense’s appeal.

Earlier, in January 2024, a HACC investigating judge had denied the same motion, reasoning that most of the evidence had been collected while Lohvynskyi still enjoyed immunity as the husband of an ECHR judge.

However, in November 2024, the Appeals Chamber returned the motion for reconsideration, stating that the investigating judge had failed to properly review and assess the submitted evidence and had deemed it insufficient without proper justification. 

In April 2025, the HACC again denied a special pre-trial investigation, concluding that some of the evidence had been obtained in violation of Lohvynskyi’s immunity and thus could not support the suspicion. The judge therefore found the suspicion insufficiently substantiated.

During the new appeal hearing, the prosecutor emphasized that the suspicion was well-grounded and that all evidence had been collected after the expiration of Lohvynskyi’s immunity, in full compliance with human rights standards. The defense opposed the appeal, seeking to amend the reasoning of the investigating judge’s decision.

Previously, the HACC Appeals Chamber had also authorized in absentia detention of Lohvynskyi, after the lower court had repeatedly denied similar motions.

As reported earlier, Lohvynskyi is suspected of orchestrating a scheme through which Golden Mandarin, a company under his control, received UAH 54 million from the state budget by filing an application to the ECHR. In 2015, the ECHR ordered Ukraine to reimburse the company owned by the MP at that time, the amount which he allegedly could not receive for five years due to a decision by the Ukrainian court.

This decision against Ukraine was made under the procedure of an amicable settlement — meaning Ukraine admitted its guilt. According to the prosecution, Lohvynskyi, along with other defendants, deliberately misled the court. In 2024, the ECHR declared a new application from Golden Mandarin Oil LLC inadmissible due to abuse of the right of application.