On 23 January, the Kyiv Court of Appeal reduced the bail of Concorde Capital investment company founder Ihor Mazepa, who is charged by the State Bureau of Investigation with attempting to seize 300 hectares of land worth more than a billion hryvnyas, Suspilne reports.
The court considered the complaint of the businessman's defence and partially upheld it: it left Mazepa in custody, but reduced the amount of bail from UAH 349.7 million to UAH 21 million. Prosecutor Yevhen Slyota demanded a new alternative bail of UAH 700 million.
The businessman participated in the court hearing via video link. His lawyer Taras Poshyvanyuk attached 10 letters of bail for Mazepa. Among the guarantors is, in particular, MP from the Servant of the People party Andriy Herus.
The defence and friends of the suspect stressed that Mazepa is no flight risk. However, the judge granted the motion only in terms of the amount of bail.
What is known about Mazepa's case
On 18 January, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation had conducted searches in the Kyiv office of Concorde Capital, one of Ukraine's largest investment companies.
The case concerns the legality of obtaining land rights for the construction of the Goodlife Park premium cottage community near the Kyiv Sea, as well as a bypass canal near Kyiv in Vyshhorod District.
The company stated that the case was opened due to the position of Concorde Capital's founder and CEO, Ihor Mazepa, regarding the pressure exerted by security forces on the business.
On 19 January, the Prosecutor-General's Office reported that the founder of the investment company, his brother and other members of a criminal organisation, using corrupt connections in government agencies, had illegally seized water fund land on which the hydraulic structures of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station are located.