In Liechtenstein, the court arrested $22 million from the ex-head of "Natfogaz" Kobolyev

In Liechtenstein, the court arrested $22 million from the ex-head of "Natfogaz" Kobolyev

A court in Liechtenstein has seized funds that were withdrawn from Ukraine by the former head of "Naftogaz", Andriy Kobolyev. We are talking about an amount of more than 22 million dollars.

The corresponding decision was made by the Princely District Court of Vaduz in Liechtenstein, Ukrainian News reports. In particular, the court decision states the prohibition of orders (i.e. seizure) for the amount of funds - $22,215,522. At the same time, the defense did not provide the court with information about the total amount of funds in the relevant accounts.

According to court materials, the hostages who paid bail for Kobolyev in the amount of 107 million UAH also demand the return of 44 million UAH. In this regard, the lawyers asked to change Kobolyev’s preventive measure from the bail of 107.13 million UAH to 62.9 million UAH.

The defence attorney also referred to the inappropriateness of the prosecutor’s statement about the defendant’s property status and pointed out that his property status was not confirmed by new documents from the prosecution. However, Kobolyev’s bank accounts abroad are blocked due to criminal prosecution, and he cannot use this money.

In turn, the court critically perceived Kobolyev’s lawyers’ reference to the decision of the Princely District Court of Vaduz (Liechtenstein) to prohibit the disposal of funds in the accounts of the accused and his ex-wife as a statement about his lack of funds. The panel of judges is also convinced that by receiving official wages and buying works of art, Kobolev could make certain savings that are not in the accounts of Liechtenstein banking institutions.

Kobolyev is accused of illegally receiving a $10 million bonus. The case concerns the receipt of the Kobolyev’s Prize in the amount of about 260 million UAH. in the spring of 2018. In January 2023, Kobolyev was given a notice of suspicion for receiving the award.

According to the prosecution, the former chairman of the board of "Naftogaz" of Ukraine in 2018 initiated consideration by its supervisory board of "Naftogaz" of Ukraine of the issue of agreeing on the payment of the bonus. Later, according to prosecutors, Kobolyev prepared changes and additions to the proposal for payment of a bonus for extraordinary achievements, setting the size of the bonus at $10 million.