SAP once again succeeded in banning Kobolev’s travel abroad
4 December 14:06
The panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) granted the petition of the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) and imposed procedural duties on the former chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andriy Kobolyev. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the SAPO press service.
According to the court ruling, the accused is obliged to:
- notify the court of any change of residence;
- refrain from communicating with witnesses in the case;
- hand over all passports to the State Migration Service of Ukraine.
It is noted that on November 1, the SAPO prosecutor filed a motion with the court to extend the term of the procedural obligations imposed on the accused in connection with the application of a preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 107 million 127 thousand.
However, the subsequent court hearings at which the court was supposed to consider the motion, namely on 05.11.2024 and 08.11.2024, were not held at the court’s initiative, and therefore the procedural obligations expired on 12.11.2024.
In addition, on November 01, 2024, the Chairman of the HACCJ panel of judges “granted permission to the accused to travel abroad from November 04, 2024 to November 25, 2024”.
On 08.11.2024 and 11.11.2024, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office sent letters to the HACC demanding to consider the motion to extend the preventive measure before its expiration. However, an additional meeting was not scheduled.
The Kobolev case
According to the NABU, Kobolev seized more than UAH 229 million in 2018 – his actions are qualified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office).
This article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 7 to 12 years with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years and confiscation of property.
The NABU detectives believe that Kobolyev, while holding the position of the head of Naftogaz, “initiated consideration by the Supervisory Board of the company of the issue of approving the payment of a bonus to him “for achieving significant goals”, and subsequently prepared amendments to the proposal for the bonus for extraordinary achievements, determining its amount at USD 10 million”.
NABU is investigating another criminal case against former Naftogaz CEO Kobolyev
NABU’s case against former Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev for illegally paying himself UAH 229 million in bonuses has now been submitted to the court and is being heard by the HACC (case No. 42018000000001782). At the same time, it turned out that the NABU currently has another criminal proceeding against Kobolyev – No. 52023000000000177. And the facts investigated by detectives within its framework are also related to the accrual and payment of multimillion-dollar bonuses to Kobolyev.
The text of the relevant HACC Ruling, in particular, states that proceedings No. 52023000000000177 were separated from case No. 42018000000001782. And this new proceeding concerns “the circumstances of payment of the second part of the bonus to Kobolyev and approval of the extension of the employment contract”.
