Half a year behind bars. Court reduced bail for former minister Solskyi

The court extended the arrest until 27 September of the minister of agrarian policy and food in 2022–2024 years, Mykola Solskyi. At the same time, For the first time in half a year since the preventive measure was chosen for the ex-official, the court significantly reduced the amount of bail. This was reported by Hlavkom with reference to the court register.

The court set a new bail amount – 49,92 million UAH instead of 63,7 million UAH. If the suspect pays the bail, a number of restrictions determined by the court will apply to him: to appear before the prosecutor, investigator, investigating judge, and court at first request; not to leave the locality where he resides without the permission of the investigator, prosecutor, or court; to notify the investigator, prosecutor, and court about a change of his place of residence and/or place of work; to refrain from communicating with witnesses; and to surrender his foreign passports to the appropriate state authorities for safekeeping.

In court, the prosecutor and investigator stated that in the criminal proceeding involving Solskyi it is necessary to carry out a large number of investigative actions. First, to analyze information from banking institutions regarding the movement of funds of LLC Volytsia-Agro after the commission of fraudulent actions. Second, to attach the conclusion of the forensic economic examination. Third, to obtain the conclusion of the State Audit Service of Ukraine regarding the audit of contractual relations between PVKF Podillia Agroprodukt and LLC Volytsia Agro.

“At this stage of the criminal proceeding there is a reasonable probability that, if at liberty, the suspect may coordinate positions with other defendants in the case, influence the course of the pre-trial investigation, or otherwise obstruct the establishment of the truth in the case. Only a preventive measure in the form of detention can ensure the proper procedural behavior of the suspect,” the court ruling states.

In addition, the court continued the preventive measures for two associates of former minister Solskyi. In particular, the director of LLC Volytsia Agro, Oleksandr Prokopets, was placed under nighttime house arrest; the technical director of LLC Volytsia Agro was remanded in custody with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 832 thousand UAH.

As Hlavkom learned, on 18 June the Commercial Court of Kyiv opened bankruptcy proceedings against LLC Volytsia Agro, owned by Kyiv resident Oleksii Olenchenko. At the same time, the investigation considers him a nominal manager, while actual control over the agricultural company was exercised by Mykola Solskyi.

Solskyi himself has been held in the Khmelnytskyi pretrial detention center for half a year.

As Hlavkom reported, on 27 March 2026 Solskyi was suspected as the organizer of a scheme involving grain fraud. Two other people are also suspected. According to the investigation, the suspects attempted to sell seven thousand tons of non-existent corn by forging warehouse documents. On paper the seller’s elevator was filled with the harvest, but in reality it was empty.

The press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General told Hlavkom that as of early May a number of criminal proceedings are being investigated in other regions for similar offenses committed by officials of LLC Volytsia Agro. The question of the possibility of consolidating these criminal proceedings into one will be decided in the event of a change of jurisdiction and designation of a single pre-trial investigation body, the prosecution added.

It should be added that the investigation in Solskyi’s case continues on two counts: appropriation of another’s property by fraud committed under martial law by prior conspiracy of a group of persons (part 5 of article 190 of the Criminal Code) and legalization (laundering) of proceeds obtained by criminal means (part 2 of article 209 of the Criminal Code).