Court sets Tymoshenko $760,000 bail amid bribery investigation
Former Prime Minister Yuliia Tymoshenko was ordered to pay bail of over Hr 33 million ($760,000) by Ukraine's anti-corruption court on Jan. 16 in an ongoing bribery case.
Tymoshenko, the leader of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, has been charged with offering bribes to members of parliament in one of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent months.
According to the court's ruling, the veteran politician is obliged to appear in court when summoned and to report any change of residence. She has also been banned from leaving Kyiv Oblast or contacting certain lawmakers, and she must surrender her passport.
Speaking at the court hearing, Tymoshenko said she would appeal the ruling.
"And in the court of appeal, we will again prove that everything that is being done is a political hit job," she said, claiming the investigation is connected to her political views rather than a fight against corruption.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said that after the agency charged several lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelensky's party in December, Tymoshenko initiated discussions on regularly offering bribes to some members of parliament in exchange for votes.
Tymoshenko has denied the allegations and claimed the investigation is connected to the potential election season.
While Ukraine's Constitution prohibits holding elections during martial law — which was declared at the outbreak of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 — Zelensky said he is ready for such an eventuality if foreign partners ensure security and lawmakers implement the necessary legislative changes.
Tymoshenko, who served as the prime minister of Ukraine in 2005 and again from 2007-2010, leads the Batkivshchyna party, which currently holds 25 seats in parliament.
The case is the most high-profile investigation since Ukraine's biggest corruption scandal that was uncovered in November, involving money laundering and embezzlement at Energoatom, the state-run nuclear power company. The scandal implicated several high-level politicians, including members of Zelensky's inner circle.
