The higher anti-corruption court decided not to continue the duties assigned to the ex-head of the board of NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" Andrii Kobolev, who is suspected of illegally receiving a bonus in the amount of UAH 229 million. This was reported by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP).
"Due to the fact that the term of office of the former chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine expired on November 12, 2024, the Prosecutor of the State Administrative Court appealed to the court on November 1, 2024 with a request for their extension. However, the following court sessions, at which the court was supposed to consider the specified petition, namely on 05.11.2024 and 08.11.2024, did not take place at the initiative of the court. Instead, on 01.11.2024, the chairman of the panel of judges granted permission to the specified accused to travel abroad from 04.11.2024 to 25.11.2024", UNN in the SAP.
As noted, the specialized anti-corruption prosecutor's office sent letters to VAKS on 08.11.2024 and 11.11.2024 with a request to consider the request for the extension of the preventive measure until its expiration.
"However, the additional meeting was never scheduled. As a result, the period of validity of the duties assigned to the accused has expired," the SAP said.
The agency noted that the following duties were assigned to the accused until November 12, 2024: to notify the court of a change in his place of residence; refrain from communicating with witnesses; hand over to the State Migration Service of Ukraine passport(s) for traveling abroad.
"Today, the accused only has a preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 107 million. Currently, the issue of applying to the court with a request to re-impose procedural duties on the accused is being resolved," the SAP said.
On January 19, 2023, Andrii Kobolev, the former chairman of the board of NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine", was informed of the suspicion of abuse of his official position, securing the payment of bonuses higher than the maximum allowable by more than 229 million hryvnias.
In September last year, VAKS reduced the amount of bail for Andriy Kobolev from 229.25 million hryvnias to 107.12 million hryvnias.
