The 18.17 million ($480,000) bail for Vsevolod Kniazev, the ex-chief of the Supreme Court arrested on corruption charges, was paid, Ukrainska Pravda and Ukrinform reported on Jan. 31, citing official sources.
Kniazev was detained and dismissed from his position in May 2023 after he was charged with accepting a $2.7 million bribe to rule in favor of Ukrainian billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago.
"The set bail for Kniazev was deposited," a source in the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine told Ukrinform.
According to Ukrainska Pravda's source in anti-corruption agencies, the procedure for Kniazev's release from the pre-trial detention center is now underway.
The defendant's lawyer later told Ukrinform that the bail was paid by Kniazev's friends due to alleged "deterioration of his health."
On Jan. 30, the court extended Kniazev's detention until March 29 while also reducing his bail from Hr 20 million ($528,000) to Hr 18.7 million.
The sum of the bail was decreased several times since the arrest, originally being set at Hr 107.3 million ($2.8 million).
According to the investigation by Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies, the dismissed judge was allegedly receiving money in order to influence the court's decision in favor of billionaire Zhevago, who denied the accusations.
The Supreme Court considered the case on Zhevago's ownership of 40.19% of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, part of the Ferrexpo group. In April 2023, the court ruled to allow Zhevago to keep the shares.
Zhevago was formally charged with bribing Kniazev in August last year.
In another case, Kniazev was found guilty in December 2023 of illegally accepting a gift after it was revealed he was renting an apartment in an elite neighborhood of Kyiv for Hr 1,000 ($26) a month.
Oleg Sukhov
