Yuriy Kolobov

Yuriy Kolobov (Ukrainian: Юрій Володимирович Колобов; born 8 April 1973) is a former Minister of Finance of Ukraine.^[2]

Yuriy Kolobov
Юрій Колобов
Kolobov in 2013
Minister of Finance of Ukraine
In office 28 February 2012[1] – 27 February 2014
Prime Minister	Mykola Azarov
Preceded by	Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi
Succeeded by	Oleksandr Shlapak
Personal details
Born	(1973-04-08) 8 April 1973 (age 52) Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine
Spouse	Married[2]
Children	A daughter and a son[2]

Biography

Kolobov graduated from Dnipro State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the University of Kharkiv.^[2]

He has worked as a director of treasury for the State Savings Bank of Ukraine (OshchadBank) until June 2008.^[2] From June to December 2008 Kolobov was chairman of the board for the BTA Bank.^[2] He also worked as a counselor on banking issues for the Finance Company Kibrit. In 2010 Kolobov was a leading executive for the State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine (UkrExImBank).^[2]

From 29 December 2010 he was appointed the first deputy of the chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.^[2][3]

On 28 February 2012 (by decree of President Viktor Yanukovych) he was appointed Minister of Finance.^[2]

On 25 September 2014 the Ukraine General Prosecutor opened a criminal probe into Kolobov; he is accused of illegally transferring a $450,000 fee to Russia's state-run VTB Capital as a kickback for the 17 December 2013 Russian–Ukrainian action plan.^[4] Five days later a criminal probe into Kolobov was opened for embezzling Ukrtelekom.^[5]

Since 3 July 2014 Kolobov is in the international wanted list for abuse of power.^[6][7][8]

Russian prosecutors refused to extradite Kolobov to Ukraine and stated (according to Ukraine falsely) that they have not received such a request from Ukraine.^[8]

According to the interior ministry of Ukraine, Kolobov was arrested on 4. March 2015 in a flat located in the luxury development "Altea Hills"^[9] near the Spanish town of Valencia.^[10] After hearings the Spanish court concluded that Kolobov was innocent and the case was politically motivated . The Spanish police announced that the Kolobov case is politically motivated

Hobby

Kolobov likes playing basketball. He was promoting Ukraine to host EuroBasket 2015 when he was a Minister of Finance. In May 2016 Kolobov was appointed a chairman of the Tutorial Council of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation. In May 2016, the ex-minister incurred expenses for Ukraine national under-15 basketball team who participated in championship hosted by Spain. Furthermore, Kolobov was called up for Ukraine veterans basketball team.