The High Anti-Corruption Court recognized the suspicion of the former Chairman of the Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andriy Kobolev, regarding the illegality of receiving an award from the NAC as unfounded.
This was announced by Kobolev's lawyer Alexei Nosov. According to him, the prosecutor's office has already filed an appeal against this decision of the VAKS.
In accordance with the decision to refuse to select a measure of restraint, the court did not establish any risks of obstructing criminal proceedings – all the risks listed by the prosecutor are leveled by Kobolev's voluntary return to Ukraine. and assessment of the arguments of the parties: the suspicion brought against Andrei Kobolev is unfounded, the message says.
The court also found that the Supervisory Board deliberately made a decision on bonuses and did not experience pressure from the official.
< p>In addition, over the 5 years of the investigation into the case, the members of the supervisory board, including its chairman, were not interrogated.
The judge rejected the prosecutor's assertion that most members of the Supervisory Board are foreigners, and therefore do not have knowledge of Ukrainian legislation, and recognized it as contrary to the idea of corporate governance in joint-stock companies and discredits the role of international experts in the supervisory and regulatory bodies.
Kobolev was not competent to assign awards
In addition, restrictions on the procedure for establishing bonuses by authorized entities did not apply to Kobolev's actions in the NAC.
the procedure for initiating such an award by others. And since the determination of the amount of bonuses for the Chairman of the Board is within the exclusive competence of the Supervisory Board, there was no violation of the requirements of the resolution, – the human rights activist explained.
As for setting the amount of the bonus, the judge found that this is the exclusive competence of the Supervisory Board.
“The court did not establish that Andrey Kobolev had powers that gave him the opportunity to influence the decision-making on setting the amount of his remuneration,” added Nosov .
Briefly about Kobolev's case
- On January 19, NABU and SAP reported suspicions to Naftogaz Ukrainy ex-member Andriy Kobolev – he is suspected in possession of more than 229 million hryvnias in the form of a bonus for winning arbitration against Gazprom
- It is noted that in May 2018, Kobolev, who was then the head of the board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, issued an order to reward company employees. Among other things, he determined a bonus in the amount of 10 million US dollars.
- The SAP stressed that Kobolev deliberately concealed information that the maximum bonuses based on the results of work were set for the heads of state-owned enterprises.< /li>
