The former chairman of the board of Naftogaz, Andrei Kobolev, did not make a pledge of UAH 229 million.
This was reported in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. He must do so by March 6th. Now he has to reconsider the measure of restraint.
Earlier, NABU announced that Kobolev was suspected of embezzling UAH 229 million. According to the investigation, in May 2018, he issued an order according to which, after a positive decision of the Stockholm Arbitration in the gas case of Ukraine against Russia (in 2019, Ukraine received 2.918 billion euros according to this decision), employees were given millions of bonuses. NABU says that according to Kobolev’s decision, too high bonuses were illegally paid.
In January, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court refused to arrest Kobolev, but the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office appealed the decision, and on March 1, the High Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office granted its demand to arrest the ex-head of Naftogaz with the right to post bail.
The SAP says that, contrary to the information disseminated in some media, the court did not arrest any accounts of the former chairman of the board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine as of March 7.
A few days after the decision of the VAKS, the owner of the investment company Concorde Capital, Igor Mazepa, announced a bail fee for Kobolev. In any case, these funds were promised to be transferred to the needs of the army.
Kobolev told Forbes on March 7 that his foreign bank accounts were blocked. This was done by the bank itself, given the criminal case against it.
In Ukraine, this case is called corruption. Although in fact it is not. Corruption is when an official receives a bribe. Which is definitely not my case. The bank makes regular monitoring of all its clients and sees: Kobolev is accused of corruption. This is the basis for the bank to block the accounts and start sorting it out. In Ukraine, my accounts were blocked even before my arrival. Financial monitoring banned all payments for 30 days without explanation. The only reason for such actions is a criminal case,” Kobolev told Forbes.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.