The Appellate Chamber of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court has set bail in the amount of UAH 229 million for the former chairman of the board of Naftogaz Andrii Kobolev.
This is reported by the Anti-Corruption Center and Kobolev himself on Facebook.
The Anti-Corruption Center explains that this means that the investigating judge previously made an illegal decision and it was canceled, and the suspicion against Andrii Kobolev is well-founded. Also, the choice of preventive measure indicates the presence of risks that Kobolev may influence or hinder the investigation. In particular, he was ordered to refrain from communicating with witnesses in the proceedings.
"While I think about what to do with it, I will not comment any more," Kobolev added.
It will be recalled that on January 31, the High Anti-Corruption Court recognized the suspicion of Andrii Kobolev as "unfounded" and refused to choose a preventive measure for him (arrest with an alternative to bail). Then the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office appealed this decision.
- On January 19, 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced to Andrii Kobolev that he was suspected of embezzling over 229 million hryvnias. The investigation established that in May 2018, Kobolev, contrary to the law, issued an order to reward the companyʼs employees, on the basis of which he was paid almost 261 million hryvnias for "extraordinary achievements" — this refers to the positive decision of the Stockholm Arbitration in the gas case of Ukraine against Russia.