The Center for Policy and Reforms won a court case against a company from the Odesa region that had challenged an article

 The Commercial Court of Odesa Oblast dismissed in its entirety the lawsuit filed by “Zenit Plus” Trading House LLC against the “Center for Public Investigations,” a public organization.

The company sought to have six statements in a CPR publication—regarding air pollution caused by the company’s cement plant—declared false and damaging to its business reputation, and to recover 200,000 hryvnias in compensation for moral damages.

In November 2024, the Center for Public Investigations published a report on a mineral powder plant locatedin the village of Vyhodain the Odesa district. Journalists visited the site and spoke with residents—about ten people attended the meeting and confirmed the statements of localactivist Olena Tsurkan: the plant has been ruining their lives for years. In the fall of 2023, the State Environmental Inspectorate of the Southwestern District determined that the plant lacked an environmental impact assessment report and that samples showed concentrations of harmful emissions exceeding permissible limits, and issued a corrective order. However, in 2024, the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Odesa Regional State Administration not only failed to shut down the plant but also allowed it to expand its production capacity.

The Center for Policy Research also found that the plant’s owner is likely a relative of an official with the State Audit Service, and that the company collaborates with a firm linked to a businessman subject to sanctions.

In November 2025, the company’s attorney,Leonid Danilets, sent acomplaint to the Center for Investigative Journalism demanding that the article be removed, arguing that “the activities of Zenit Plus Trading House LLC will not have a negative impact on the natural environment and will not lead to a deterioration in the living conditions of the local population.” In doing so, they cited the findings of an independent laboratory dated October 2, 2025.

The CPR denied their request because the publication had been released on November 10, 2024, and was based on information available as of that date. After receiving the denial, in December 2025, the company filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court of Odesa Oblast, challenging six passages of the publication as factually inaccurate and demanding a retraction, the removal of these sections from the text, and 200,000 hryvnias in compensation for emotional distress.

At the court hearing,Valery Bolgan, head of the NGO “Center for Public Investigations,” called the lawsuit a SLAPP suit—an attempt to intimidate the editorial staff and silence journalists.

“Instead of solving the environmental problem, the plaintiff is trying to punish those who speak out about it,” the journalist stated. 

Valeriy Bolgan also emphasized that the plaintiff had failed to prove the inaccuracy of any of the contested statements. Consequently, on June 25, 2026,Judge Serhiy Nikitenko announcedthe ruling: to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety. However, this is the ruling of the court of first instance, and the company has the right to appeal it to the appellate court.

This is not the company’s only lawsuit in this matter. At the same time, “Zenit Plus” Trading House LLC is suing Olena Tsurkan in the Bilyayivsky District Court of Odesa Oblast, alleging that she disseminated false information that damages the company’s business reputation. The case is still pending.

Кирило Бойко