MP Stolar unable to post 300 million hryvnia bail due to bank refusals

People’s Deputy Vadim Stolar, a suspect in the corruption case involving Iryna Mudra and Maksym Mykytasy, has stated that he is unable to post the court-ordered bail of 300 million hryvnias.

He announced this in his Telegram channel.

According to Stolar, he and his lawyers deliberately chose not to appeal the first-instance court ruling and are prepared to fulfill the bail conditions.

“Given the heightened media attention to the question of my compliance with the bail conditions, I want to clarify the situation. My lawyers and I have deliberately decided not to appeal the first-instance court ruling, as we are confident in our legal position and therefore consider it possible and are prepared to post bail in the amount set by the court,” Stolar wrote.

The deputy claims he has the necessary funds, but has encountered a situation where banks are groundlessly refusing to transfer his own funds and those of his family to the treasury account of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). He described these actions as unlawful. In connection with this, Stolar has appealed to the National Bank and notified the prosecution of the problem.

Previously, Stolar returned to Ukraine from abroad, where he had been at the time of the searches and detention of former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra. According to media reports, he was counting on a deal with the investigation.

The outlet had previously reported that one of NABU’s objectives in the case against Mudra — concerning the collection of approximately €2.9 million for the bail of former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko — was to pressure all those who might transfer bail payments for other defendants in NABU cases so that they would remain in pre-trial detention, as well as to pressure the banks. The heads of Sens Bank, through which part of the funds for Halushchenko’s bail passed, are implicated in the Mudra case.

According to available information, banks are now blocking any bail payments outright. This is likely happening with the knowledge of NBU Governor Andriy Pyshny, who is himself under threat of dismissal due to the situation with Sens Bank and his ties to former Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak.