SBI has appealed to the court regarding the "coal case" of Poroshenko: what is it about

The State Bureau of Investigation reported that it has appealed to the court to limit the deadlines for familiarization with the "coal case", in which the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is a defendant, writes UNN.

The State Bureau of Investigation is asking the court to limit the deadlines for familiarization with the case for the fifth President of Ukraine, now a People's Deputy of Ukraine, whom the Bureau suspects of committing state treason and facilitating the activities of terrorist organizations

In particular, the Bureau's investigators filed a petition with the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv to set a deadline for the suspects, the current and former People's Deputies and the top manager of the coal sector, as well as their defenders, to familiarize themselves with the materials of the pre-trial investigation.

As reported, the State Bureau of Investigation completed the investigation of the criminal proceedings on the organization of a criminal scheme for the supply of coal from the temporarily occupied territories and assistance to the terrorist organizations "LPR" and "DPR" by a group of Ukrainian citizens in the total amount of about 1.5 billion hryvnias on September 2, 2022.

"At the same time, the case materials were transferred for familiarization to the defense and the suspects. However, the suspects, including the current People's Deputy, are abusing their procedural rights and do not appear to familiarize themselves with the materials of the proceedings", - the State Bureau of Investigation said.

The essence of the case

The State Bureau of Investigation stated that the fifth President of Ukraine is suspected of "acting in collusion with a group of persons, including representatives of the top leadership of the Russian Federation, to facilitate the activities of the terrorist organizations "LPR" and "DPR".

In September-November 2021, another former People's Deputy and the Minister of Energy were also notified of suspicion in the specified proceedings.

They are suspected of purchasing coal from the ORDLO at public expense. According to the investigation, the actions of the defendants in the proceedings put the energy sector of Ukraine in dependence on the Russian Federation and terrorist organizations. This, in turn, undermined the economic security of the state in 2014-2015, deprived the possibility of diversifying the sources of energy supply, and also provided the Russian Federation with broader opportunities for further interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine and conducting subversive activities against it.

The proceedings were carried out under Part 1 and Part 3 of Art. 258-5 (terrorism financing), Part 1 of Art. 111 (state treason) and Part 1 of Art. 258-3 (assistance to the activities of a terrorist organization) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The sanctions of the above articles provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of up to 15 years with or without confiscation of property.