The court arrested Minister Solskyi with a bail of more than 75 million hryvnias

Mykola Solskyi. Photo: Latifundist.com

The higher anti-corruption court chose preventive measures against the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi in the form of arrest with an alternative bail of 75.7 million hryvnias.

This was stated by the investigative judge of the State Criminal Court, the correspondent of Ukrinform reports.

The term of validity of the decision regarding the application of a preventive measure is 60 days until June 24, 2024 inclusive.

In the case of bail, the minister will be assigned a number of duties, including: to attend the NABU detective, prosecutor, investigating judge, court upon every request; not to leave Kyiv without the permission of the prosecutor or the court; notify the investigator, the prosecutor and the court about a change in their place of residence and work; refrain from communicating with witnesses and other suspects in this case.

After depositing bail, Mykola Solskyi will need to hand over his passport for traveling abroad and other documents giving the right to leave Ukraine to the relevant state authorities, and wear an electronic means of control.

The prosecution's request was partially granted — the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested the arrest of Mykola Solskyi and a bail of 200 million hryvnias.

As reported, on April 23, NABU announced that the law enforcement officers exposed the current minister for taking over state land worth 291 million hryvnias and attempting to take over land for another 190 million hryvnias.

Mykola Solskyi, commenting on the suspicion handed to him, noted that the events relate to the period of 2017-2018, when he was a lawyer and was neither the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, nor the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.

According to him, the seven-year-old circumstances relate to a dispute between state-owned enterprises and individuals, in particular ATO soldiers, over land that was given to the latter in possession in accordance with the law.

He stated that disputes are resolved by the courts, including the Supreme Court, and that, as far as he knows, a number of decisions currently state that state-owned enterprises do not have the right to land, which is probably what NABU is referring to.

We will remind that the former deputy of the Zatoka settlement council in Odesa region appropriated 15 plots of land on the Black Sea coast.