Ukraine prosecutors open probe against retail chain owner for trading in occupied Crimea

The Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, at the request of Ukrainian MP Vitaliy Kupriy, has launched an investigation against the owner of the ATB grocery giant, Hennadiy Butkevych.

It is about "trading in [the occupied] Crimea, which contributed to encroachment on territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine," Kupriy wrote on Facebook.

According to the MP, Butkevych may "face up to three years in prison for deliberate actions aimed at altering Ukrainian borders."

He also pointed out that, in accordance with the law, the materials of the case were sent to the Prosecutor General's Office to determine the jurisdiction.

Read alsoUkraine needs law on collaborators as Minsk accords not working – Interior Minister"Financial support of the invaders must be punished! Now Butkevych, but then we will gradually get to other collaborators, wherever they are and whatever posts they hold!" the MP wrote.

UNIAN memo. ATB-Market LLC is one of Ukraine's leading retail trade companies owning the largest national network of retail stores. ATB discounters offer foodstuffs and essential nonfood commodities. At the moment more than 500 discounters operate in 117 cities and towns across 15 regions of Ukraine. The company was set up in 1993 in the city of Dnipro.