Corruption

NABU investigates another criminal case against ex-Naftogaz head Kobolev

The NABU case accusing former Naftohaz CEO Andriy Kobolev of illegally paying himself 229m hryvnyas in bonuses has now been transferred to court and is being heard in the VAKS (proceeding No. 42018000000001782). At the same time, it turned out that the NABU now has another criminal proceeding against Kobolev – No. 52023000000000177. And the facts that detectives are investigating within its framework are also related to the accrual and payment of multimillion bonuses to Kobolev. This is evidenced by the data of the VAKS court ruling, published in the Register of court decisions, Komersant ukrainskyi informs with reference to Zerkalo Nedeli.

In particular, the text of the ruling states that the case No. 52023000000000177 was separated from the case No. 42018000000001782. And this new proceeding concerns“the circumstances of payment of the second part of the bonus to Kobolev and agreement on the extension of the labor contract”.

“Referring to the fact that the information about the payment to the Chairman of the Management Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine LITSO_10 (Kobolev, – ed.) of a bonus on the basis of the decision of the Supervisory Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine No. 5/2018 dated 16-18.04.2018 is the subject of research in this criminal proceeding, the defense counsel argued that in order to fully and comprehensively study the case materials, it is necessary to obtain temporary access to the full scope of documents related to the payment of the second part of the bonus and coordination of the extension of the employment contract with LITSO_10. Such documents have been separated from the materials of criminal proceeding No. 42018000000001782 into a separate criminal proceeding No. 52023000000000177,” the court document reads.

In general, it follows from the essence of the Ruling that Kobolev ‘s lawyers tried to obtain through the VAKS permission to seize from the NABU the materials of the proceeding №52023000000000177, and the judges refused them. The reason for the refusal is that the case is now at the stage of pre-trial investigation, and accordingly, access to the materials of such a case to third parties can be granted/not granted only by the prosecutor or investigator.

“Thus, at the stage of pre-trial investigation it is the prosecutor or investigator is the person who determines the scope of information constituting the secrecy of the pre-trial investigation, and makes a decision on granting permission to disclose the relevant information, including familiarization with the materials of the pre-trial investigation”, – stated in the resolution.

According to the NABU, Kobolev took possession in 2018 more than 229 million UAH – his actions are qualified under part 5 of article 191 of the Criminal code of Ukraine(misappropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it by abuse of office).

This article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for 7 to 12 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years and confiscation of property.

NABU detectives believe that Kobolev , while holding the position of the head of Naftogaz “himself initiated the consideration by the Supervisory Board of the company to approve the payment of a bonus to him “for the achievement of weighty goals”, and subsequently prepared amendments and additions to the submission on the bonus for extraordinary achievements, determining its size in 10 million U.S. dollars”.

Kobolev allowed to leave Ukraine

The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court did not extend the term of the obligations imposed on the former head of the board of Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev and granted him permission to leave the country from November 4 to November 25.

At the same time, earlier Kobolev’s defense repeatedly asked the VAKS to grant the suspect the right to travel abroad. Prosecutors of the SAP objected and the SACS refused to satisfy such requests of the lawyers.

In particular, the previous rulings of the SACS show that the judges pointed out that Kobolev had significant funds and, accordingly, the risks of hiding it outside Ukraine.