A former deputy energy and coal minister in the administration of former Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych was placed in pretrial detention for 45 days on suspicion of causing $40 million in damages to the state.
Bail was alternately set at $240,000, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled on January 28 in Kiev. He was extradited from Georgia to Ukraine on January 27.
Should the former government official post bail, he is ordered to obey summons by law-enforcement agencies and the courts, not to change his residence, refrain from speaking with other suspects in the case, surrender his travel passport, and wear a monitoring bracelet.
The court said the former deputy minister was allegedly involved in a scheme to sell liquefied gas at the expense of two state-owned oil and gas companies to private firms causing losses worth $40 million, RFE/RL reported.
The suspect wasn’t named in the court decision, but Ukrainian media have identified him as Ihor Kiryushyn, who served as deputy energy and coal minister in 2009-2011.
