Kyiv Court of Appeal has upheld a Pechersky District Court ruling extending the arrest of Ihor Didenko, the former first deputy chairman of Naftogaz Ukrainy, until November 10, his lawyer Ihor Stepanov has told Interfax-Ukraine.
The court took a respective decision after considering a petition lodged by Didenko’s lawyers against the ruling extending the arrest of the company’s former first deputy head until November 10.
The lawyer said that the court had extended Didenko’s arrest until November 10, 2010 and that the defense was currently beginning to study the materials of the case. Stepanov admitted that if the documents were not examined by November10, the investigation would require Didenko’s further detention.
It was reported earlier that the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce had obliged Naftogaz Ukrainy to return 11 billion cubic meters of gas to RosUkrEnergo and pay it a fine in commodity form in an amount of 1.1 billion cubic meters of gas in line with a contract.
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Chief Valery Khoroshkovsky announced the opening of a criminal case into the infliction of damage on Ukraine based on the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce’s decision.
The SBU has already completed its pretrial investigation into a criminal case against officials of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy and the State Customs Service on the unlawful seizure of gas belonging to Swiss-based gas trader RosUkrEnergo and the illegal customs clearance of the gas in February-March 2009.
During the investigation enough evidence was gathered to confirm the guilt of defendants, according to the SBU. At present, the defendants and their lawyers are getting acquainted with the materials of the case to fulfill the requirements of Articles 218-220 of the Criminal and Procedural Code of Ukraine, and after this the case will go to court.
So far, the former head of the State Customs Service, Anatoliy Makarenko, the former first deputy head of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ihor Didenko, and the former chief of the Energy Regional Customs, Taras Shepitko, have been arrested in relation to the case.
