The court sent Agriculture Minister Solsky into custody

Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy, Mykola Solskyi, has been remanded in custody with an alternative bail option of 75 million hryvnias (approximately 1,777,955 euros) until June 24th.

This decision was made by the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine.

The prosecution requested Solskyi’s detention with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 200 million hryvnias (approximately 4,741,213 euros).

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine suspects the minister of illegally acquiring state land. According to the investigation, from 2017 to 2021, he unlawfully acquired state land in the Sumy region amounting to 291 million hryvnias (approximately 6,898,465 euros) and attempted to acquire land worth another 190 million hryvnias (approximately 4,504,152 euros).

Solskyi himself noted that these events relate to the period of 2017-2018 when he was still a lawyer, not a minister or head of the agrarian committee of the Verkhovna Rada.

“The circumstances dating back seven years relate to disputes between state enterprises and individuals, including ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation] veterans, over land that was granted to the latter in accordance with the law. Disputes are resolved in courts, including the Supreme Court, and as far as I know, several decisions currently affirm the lack of right of state enterprises to land, which is likely what the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine refers to,” explained the minister.

After being informed of the suspicion, he submitted a resignation statement.