Unprecedented loyalty of the HACC in the $10 million case: Kobolev’s bail reduced and duties reduced
16 October 08:01
The HACC continues to consider the NABU’s criminal proceedings against former Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev for illegally awarding himself bonuses worth UAH 229 million ($10 million at the time of payment). Over the past few months, the court has reduced the defendant’s bail, and left only two of the procedural obligations imposed on him, according to the HACC ruling, [Komersant] reports.
Thus, the ruling indicates that the amount of bail granted to Kobolyev was reduced from UAH 107 million to UAH 80 million.
“…by the ruling of 05.08.2025, PERSON_10 reduced the preventive measure to UAH 80,000,000.00,” the court document says.
The text of the ruling also states that the procedural obligations imposed on Kobolyev will be extended until December 7 inclusive.
These obligations, in particular, include:
1) to notify the court of any change of residence;
2) refrain from communicating with witnesses.
At the same time, Kobolyev was previously subject to more obligations, and in addition to the above, he had to surrender his foreign passports. Accordingly, the accused was not allowed to travel abroad. But now the HACC judges do not restrict Kobolyev’s desire to do so.
At the same time, the text of the same ruling contains the prosecutor’s arguments about the risk of Kobolyev’s flight from the country.
“The prosecutor justifies the existence of the risk of absconding by the severity of the possible punishment that PERSON_10 faces if his guilt is proven, the impossibility of applying the provisions of Art. 45 and 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in connection with the accusation of committing a corruption crime, the financial situation of PERSON_10, which allows the latter to live and hide abroad, the lack of strong social ties of PERSON_10 in Ukraine due to the residence of his children and mother abroad,” the text of the decision reads.
The Kobolyev case
According to the NABU, Kobolyev 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.
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”.
NABU investigates another case against Kobolyev
NABU’s case against former Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev for illegally paying himself UAH 229 million in bonuses has now been referred 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”.
New data on taxes
The former head of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yuriy Vitrenko, accused Andriy Kobolyev of not paying taxes on the multimillion-dollar bonuses he received. We are talking about UAH 66 million.
According to the former official, Kobolyev was supposed to declare and pay taxes on his own. However, he did not do so either in 2021, when he received the money, or in 2022, when the deadline for filing the declaration came.
The HACC also failed to schedule a meeting to consider SAPO motions on time, which also led to the expiration of Kobolyev’s obligations.
