SBI conducts a search at Kobolyev’s wife’s house: what is known
23 April 10:38
On the morning of April 23, 2025, officers of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) conducted an emergency search in the house of Svitlana Panayotidi, the wife of former Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Andriy Kobolyev, without a court order. This was reported by Miller Law Firm partner, head of White-Collar Crime, Compliance and Internal Investigations practice, attorney Artem Krykun-Trush in his post, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
According to the information provided by Artem Krykun-Trush, SBI investigators appeared at Svitlana Panayotidi’s apartment early in the morning. They did not present a court order, citing the “urgency” of the search, and stated that the case dates back to 2021. They did not provide any specific details about the case, and Svitlana’s phone was seized.
“They did not present a ruling. They say it’s a case from 2021. What kind of case? They don’t say. The phone was seized. And this is not just arbitrariness. This is a demonstrative disregard for the law,” Krykun-Trush writes.
He emphasizes that according to the law, an emergency search is possible only in three cases:
- If it is necessary to save lives.
- If it is necessary to immediately protect property.
- If law enforcement officers are pursuing a criminal.
According to him, none of these conditions were met, as this is a case that is four years old.
In addition, Panaiotidi is a practicing lawyer and has a lawyer’s certificate. According to the law, lawyers are not allowed to be searched without a special request from the Prosecutor General or his deputy.
“Secondly, Svetlana is a practicing lawyer and has a lawyer’s certificate. Lawyers cannot be searched just like that. There must be a request from the Prosecutor General or his deputy. This is a filter and a guarantee that protects the profession and the legal system as a whole. And the SBI deliberately bypassed it,” emphasizes Krykun-Trush.
Currently, lawyer Taras Poshyvanyuk is working at the scene, and representatives of the Bar Council have been summoned.
In her post, Krykun-Trush notes that this incident is another example of pressure on the professional legal community, also mentioning the previous case of lawyer Borys Stanislav.
“This is not about one person anymore. This is about a line. The line beyond which complete disregard for rights and justice begins,” he summarized.
The SBI has not yet publicly commented on the situation.
It is likely that the situation with the search of Svitlana Panayotidi’s house may be related to previous SBI investigations into Andriy Kobolyev. In 2022, the SBI conducted searches at Kobolyev’s home in the case of the alleged illegal alienation of 305 million cubic meters of natural gas in 2020, which, according to the investigation, caused losses of UAH 2.2 billion. Kobolyev then called the SBI’s actions “banal intimidation” and an attempt to discredit his team.
Kobolev’s case
According to the NABU, Kobolyev embezzled 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, “himself 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.”
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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”.
