MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoysky has been arrested for two months with a bail option of about $13.8 million, according to Kiev’s Shevchenkovsky District Court.
Previously, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed that Kolomoysky was charged with fraud and legalization of criminally-obtained property. According to the investigation, between 2013 and 2020, Kolomoysky laundered over $13 million by moving these funds off-shore, using banks under his control. Ukrainian media and a number of politicians tie another round of prosecution of the businessman to the upcoming visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to the US, where will have to report on combating corruption in Ukraine.
Kolomoysky’s lawyers said they will appeal the arrest, but will not post the bail.
"We are preparing an appeal; we await the full text of the court’s ruling; we are not going to post bail," his lawyer told Ukrinform.
Last fall, the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine carried out searches on Kolomoysky’s property over case of seizure of Ukrnafta’s property. Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that Kolomoysky was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship, but this was not officially confirmed.
In 2021, Forbes assessed Kolomoysky’s net worth at $1.8 billion, naming him 4th richest person in Ukraine. However, in December 2022, the magazine lowered this assessment to $850 million due to the decision of forceful withdrawal of Ukrnafta, which was effectively under the businessman’s control, and jointly owned Ukrtatnafta, which owns the largest oil refinery in Ukraine. In 2021, Ukrtatnafta contributed to almost 40% of petrol market at 14% of diesel fuel market in the republic.