Deputy Prosecutor of Kyiv Oblast Detained for Embezzlement

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) officers detained the Deputy Prosecutor of Kyiv Oblast Oleksandr Kolesnyk. Head of NABU Artem Sytnyk states this during the parliamentary hearings on Wednesday, May 18. According to him, Mr. Kolesnyk was detained in relation to the case of embezzlement of 30,000 tons of sugar worth over ₴300M ($12M).

Mr. Sytnyk added that, ironically, Mr. Kolesnyk was working in the same office as the ‘diamond prosecutor’ Oleksandr Korniets [ed.: a prosecutor known for keeping diamonds that he allegedly acquired through corruption]. Korniets used to work as the Deputy Prosecutor of Kyiv Oblast too. Mr. Sytnyk went on that such cases could have been investigated much more promptly, but this is the General Prosecutor’s Office that puts the brakes on as it does not hand out the cases requested by NABU.

Please, refer to the Facebook post by Davit Sakvarelidze [ed.: the text of this Facebook post is in the Russian language].

Solomianskyi district court placed Kolesnyk in pre-trial detention for two months and allowed to stand ₴5.5M bail for him, while the NABU requested that ₴300M bail be set.

Kolesnyk did not admit guilt, neither did his attorneys. They are about to appeal the court decision.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda and Oleh Shankovskyi