The investigator has changed the pre-trial restrictions on Former Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Yevhen Korniychuk, who is charged with abuse of office and forgery, from arrest to a written undertaking not to leave Kyiv, his lawyer Ihor Fomin told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that he and his client had finished studying the materials of the criminal case.
On Dec. 24, 2010, the Prosecutor General’s Office detained Korniychuk, who earlier worked as a senior partner at the Magister & Partners law firm.
On Dec. 30, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv ordered Korniychuk to be taken into custody for two months as a pre-trial restriction, and then he was transferred to a Kyiv pre-trial detention center.
The lawyer said that charges had been brought against Korniychuk under two articles of the Criminal Code – Article 365 (abuse of office, which entailed grave consequences) and Article 366 (forgery).
Some media reported that on Dec. 22 Korniychuk had provided testimony in a case related to the provision of services by the Magisters law firm (formerly known as Magister & Partners) to Naftogaz Ukrainy.
Korniychuk is charged that he, while serving as Ukraine’s first deputy justice minister, signed a letter permitting the holding of a tender on the provision of legal services to Naftogaz from a single law firm.
On Feb. 4, 2011, the Prosecutor General’s Office conducted a 14-hour search at the Kyiv office of the Magisters law firm, the company’s press service reported.
During the search, documents related to the investigation into a case on Naftogaz Ukrainy were seized, according to a report.
On Feb. 11, Kyiv Court of Appeals extended the arrest of Korniychuk.
