Kobolev wanted to go abroad on basis of letter from Budanov, but court did not allow

The head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov personally appealed to the court so that the ex-head of Naftogaz Andrii Kobolev was allowed to go abroad.

This is stated in the court materials, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

On November 16, the court received a letter from the head of the Defense Intelligence asking it to grant Kobolev permission to travel abroad between November 20 and 29, 2023 to involve him in certain measures.

What exactly these measures are it is not specified.

The next day, an additional letter was received from the Defense Intelligence specifying the dates for which such permission is required, namely, from December 3 to 17.

In a court hearing, Kobolev's lawyer asked to pay attention to the request of the representative of the military department, indicating the need for the ex-head of Naftogaz to move freely.

Regarding letters from the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Kobolev said that these circumstances do not depend on him and the relevant dates of possible trips are not determined by him.

The prosecutor noted that the dates indicated in Budanov's letter cover a period that is outside the period of duration of the decision on the obligations, and therefore asked not to take it into account.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Naftogaz ex-head Kobolev’s bail size was halved, and the electronic bracelet was removed from him.

Kobolev transferred all the money to his mother in the United States so that they would not be taken away by the Ukrainian investigation.

The Member of the Kyiv City Council Vladyslav Trubitsyn, accused of receiving UAH 1.39 million of undue profit, was able to go abroad on May 13, 2023 on the basis of a letter from the head of the Defense Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov.