The former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, and his lawyer were informed of suspicion in the case of a $2.7 million bribe.
The National Corruption Bureau announced this on May 16.
They are suspected under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code — accepting an offer, promise, or receiving a bribe by an official and in a particularly large amount.
On May 15, it became known that Knyazev was caught taking a bribe of almost $3 million. The bribe was connected with decisions in favor of businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago in the case of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. The first part of the bribe was handed over on May 3 and the second — on May 15. This was recorded in the heat of the moment. In the Supreme Court, a "back office" was created under the leadership of Vsevolod Knyazev — the bar association helped judges make the necessary decisions for money.
What did Zhevago want to solve?
In 2002, the businessman purchased 40.19% of the shares of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant from four companies. In 2020, the former shareholders applied to the Commercial Court with a lawsuit to invalidate the share purchase agreement and get them back. However, the court rejected the former shareholders.
In 2022, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the first instance and invalidated the contract for the sale of securities. In order to prevent the loss of shares, in early March, Zhevago turned to the "back office" of the Supreme Court. Already on April 19, the Supreme Court made a decision in favor of Zhevago — it recognized that the businessman legally purchased the Poltava plant.