The Supreme Court has ruled in the controversial case involving a bonus for former Naftogaz CEO Kobolev
On September 10, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a final ruling in the case brought by NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine” regarding a claim by the State Audit Service of Ukraine concerning the payment of a bonus of over 228 million hryvnias to the company’s former CEO, Andriy Kobolev.
The court upheld the State Audit Service’s appeal and ruled in favor of the state.
Thus, after seven years of litigation, this part of the dispute has been resolved.
The basis for the proceedings was an audit of Naftogaz’s activities for the period from April 2017 to September 2018. Based on the audit findings, the auditors identified a number of violations which, in their assessment, resulted in losses to the state.
The largest of the identified claims was the payment of a bonus to Andriy Kobolev in the amount of over 228 million UAH.
In addition, the State Audit Service reported the unjustified write-off of accounts receivable totaling 11.7 million UAH, as well as violations during the conduct of public procurement.
Naftogaz challenged the auditors’ demands in court. In 2019, the Kyiv District Administrative Court denied the company’s claim, and in 2020, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal upheld that decision.
Subsequently, Andriy Kobolev himself joined the legal dispute. After the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) notified him in January 2023 that he was suspected of embezzling more than 228 million hryvnias, the former head of Naftogaz also challenged the State Audit Service’s demand.
Kobolev argued that the document infringed upon his rights because it was being used as evidence in criminal proceedings.
In September 2024, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal overturned the State Audit Service’s demand. The auditors disagreed with the decision and filed a cassation appeal.
On September 10, the Supreme Court granted the State Audit Service’s cassation appeal. The decision is final in this administrative case.
At the same time, the Supreme Court’s decision in the administrative case does not constitute a verdict in the criminal proceedings against Andriy Kobolev.
A separate case is ongoing in which he is accused of embezzling over 228 million hryvnias during the payment of a bonus. The defense denies the charges and insists that the payments were lawful.
According to the investigation, in May 2018, Kobolev, who headed Naftogaz from 2014 to 2021, issued an order to award bonuses to company employees, on the basis of which he was paid nearly 261 million hryvnias, or about $10 million, for extraordinary achievements.
This was in connection with a favorable ruling in a dispute over a natural gas purchase and sale contract concluded between 2009 and 2019.
According to law enforcement officials, Andriy Kobolev received a total of over 413 million hryvnias in income between 2017 and 2022.
In addition, in April 2021, when Kobolev stepped down as chairman of Naftogaz’s board, he was paid another 338.6 million hryvnias in bonuses, according to the case file.
According to the investigation, as of 2017, Kobolev was one of the highest-paid executives at energy companies in Europe. His average monthly salary was the equivalent of 31,500 euros, which was 136 times higher than the average salary in Ukraine at that time. Bonus payments were calculated separately.
Furthermore, according to the prosecutor’s statement in court, Kobolev received over $20 million in bonuses during his time at Naftogaz.
Prior to this, the High Anti-Corruption Court, at the request of the SAPO prosecutor, imposed procedural obligations on Andriy Kobolev, the former chairman of the board of NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine.” He must once again surrender his passports for travel abroad and notify the court of any change in his place of residence.
Subsequently, the High Anti-Corruption Court reduced the bail for Andriy Kobolev, the former chairman of the board of NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine,” from 107.1 million hryvnias to 80 million hryvnias.
