Running an agricultural business is accompanied by a number of legal issues, ranging from land use rights to disputes with tax authorities. The biggest problems include pressure from law enforcement agencies, raider attacks, and the need for anti-raider protection of landowners.
Regarding improper actions by law enforcement, it is no secret that there are frequent cases of investigations into unfounded criminal cases, which are used as a means of pressuring businesses, as these cases involve endless interrogations, searches, and seizures. Law enforcement officers often take advantage of agricultural workers’ lack of knowledge of criminal procedural law, abusing their official position. Therefore, in such cases, the assistance of a lawyer specializing in criminal law is absolutely necessary.
Another significant problem for farmers is raider attacks. Recently, raiding in Ukraine has reached alarming proportions. Despite the state’s efforts to strengthen the protection of property rights and improve the investment climate in the country—such as the adoption of so-called anti-raider laws and the establishment of a Commission for complaints in the field of state registration—the number of raider attacks remains extremely high. Therefore, it is not surprising that more than 70% of farmers consider their business to be unprotected from raiding.
Taking certain preventive measures, such as structuring the business, protecting insider information, controlling creditor debt, setting limitations on the director’s authority, and creating a number of obligations for the company toward other (friendly) enterprises, can significantly minimize the risk of successful raider attacks. It is clear that it is better to take a series of preventive actions to reduce the possibility of a “hostile takeover,” making your business too complex an object for attacks from those looking to illegally enrich themselves at the expense of others’ property, rather than later dealing with the consequences of a raider attack. Of course, implementing preventive measures to reduce the risk of raiding requires practical experience and systematic legal knowledge, so it is necessary to consult a qualified lawyer for their implementation.
Moreover, professional legal assistance is essential when defending against active raider attacks, as in this case, it is necessary to quickly develop a defense strategy and effectively implement the action plan.
The anti-raider protection of landowners provided by WinnerLex includes, in particular:
- Assistance during specific investigative actions, searches, and interrogations.
- Comprehensive support for criminal proceedings.
- Legal audit of the business structure (Due Diligence) to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities to raider attacks, as well as developing and implementing anti-raider protection measures.
- Development of statutory and corporate documents that include safeguards against raiding.
- Restructuring the business to minimize the risks of raider attacks.
- Establishing obligations between related, friendly companies, based on which encumbrances on property and corporate rights are created.
- Active legal defense against raider attacks by involving law enforcement agencies and appealing unlawful actions in both judicial and extrajudicial ways.
Practice experience: 19 years
Specialization: litigation support, tax, customs and antitrust practices, agricultural law, IT and M&A
Practice experience: 21 years Specialization: support of economic, civil, labor and administrative disputes, energy
Practice experience: 11 years Specialization: tax, customs and corporate disputes, support of inspections, contractual activities
Practice experience: 6 years
Specialisation: business and civil law, tax and customs practice, corporate law, registration and reorganisation of business
Practice experience: 11 years Specialization: support of economic, civil, labor and administrative disputes, inspections
To obtain timely information regarding attempts of raider attacks, periodically track the accuracy of the information entered into public registers concerning your land plot and your company, check for any court cases involving your enterprise, and verify data in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Formations. Additionally, since the end of 2016, there has been a paid service called “SMS-Mayaк,” which allows registered users to instantly receive information not only about changes in state registers related to their land plots and legal entities but also about individuals who have shown interest in your property and obtained an extract from the register.
In the case of a raider attack through manipulation of state registrars of public registers, simultaneously file complaints with the Commission for Consideration of Complaints in the State Registration Sphere at the Ministry of Justice and with the Business Ombudsman Council, and submit a criminal complaint to law enforcement agencies. You will also need to decide whether to approach the court or the Commission at the Ministry of Justice and the Business Ombudsman Council, as they only review complaints related to facts that are not subject to judicial review.
To reduce the risks of a raider attack, the company’s charter should include provisions that limit the maximum contract value the director can sign without prior approval from the higher management body, and specify that only certain individuals are authorized to initiate registration actions on behalf of the company. Additionally, ensure that information about these limitations is entered into the Unified State Register.
If you face illegal actions or inaction by law enforcement during a pre-trial investigation in a criminal case, as stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, challenge such actions or inactions before the investigating judge. However, if the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine prevents the challenge of certain actions or inactions by law enforcement, which you still wish to contest, file a complaint with the higher authority and the relevant prosecutor.
If you are called for interrogation, remember the following advice. First and foremost, attend the interrogation only with an attorney. Remain silent until your lawyer allows you to say what has been pre-agreed with them. During the interrogation, listen carefully to your lawyer, never argue with them, and follow the “signaling system” agreed upon before the interrogation. If you do not wish to answer certain questions, you can state that you do not remember the circumstances, as no one is obliged to remember everything.
Among the main reasons contributing to illegal actions by raiders, the following can be highlighted:
- Imperfections in the founding documents.
- Lack of a structured document management system within the company.
- Lack of monitoring for changes in state registers.
- Failure to implement appropriate physical security measures for assets and absence of a cohesive internal security system.
- Untimely or legally unprofessional appeals to government authorities and courts.
- Attempts to handle a raider attack on their own without involving specialists (lawyers, security agencies).
If a raider attack is already happening, the following steps should be taken:
- Call law enforcement officers and file relevant reports about the crime. Call a lawyer.
- Instruct employees on the action protocol in case of physical confrontation.
- Record all illegal actions of the raiders, including their faces, vehicle numbers, and identification documents.
- Inform local authorities and the public, law enforcement leaders, and invite journalists.
- Maximize the spread of information about the raider attack on social media.
- Immediately inform your counterparties and suspend contracts, inform banking institutions about the seizure.
- Appeal to the commission for handling complaints in the state registration sector at the Ministry of Justice.
If law enforcement officers arrive for a search, demand that they do not start the search until your lawyer arrives. If the search is conducted without allowing your lawyer, and you insisted on their presence, any evidence obtained during such a search may be deemed inadmissible by the court. Before the search begins, demand that the officers present their service IDs. Also, request a copy of the investigative judge’s ruling granting permission for the search. Carefully read the ruling, focusing on the following details: whether the address of the premises where the search will take place is correct; whether the same people authorized by the ruling to conduct the search have appeared; and whether the one-month period from the date of the decision granting permission for the search has expired.
