KYIV: A former Ukrainian state energy operator chief suspected of embezzlement was ordered to be kept in detention by a Kyiv court Wednesday, stoking fears of political interference as the country enters its fourth war winter.
The ruling comes months after President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to curb the power of anti-corruption agencies, with critics saying the government may resort to more covert means of exerting pressure on political opponents.
Volodymyr Kudrytsky, a former head of Ukraine’s state energy company Ukrenergo, who had been sacked last year, is accused of misappropriating over $1.6 million of state funds in 2018, the prosecutors said.
The Pechersk District court in Kyiv on Wednesday ruled “to apply to Volodymyr Dmytrovych Kudrytsky ... a preventive measure in the form of detention,” a judge said.
He will spend two months in pre-trial detention unless he comes up with a $300,000 bail.
