Kyiv's Appeals Court has granted permission to conduct a special pretrial criminal investigation in absentia into the case of former Ukrainian Finance Minister Yuriy Kolobov, who served under disgraced ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.

A panel of judges from the court on May 13 reviewed a motion filed by Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) about a ruling handed down on April 3 by Kyiv's Pechersky District Court satisfying a March 25, 2015, request for the special probe into whether Kolobov violated Part 5 of Article 191 (embezzlement) of Ukraine's Criminal Code, the press service of Kyiv's Appeals Court reported on Saturday, May 15.

The panel of judges ruled to grant the request.

Kolobov was arrested in Spain in early 2015. Deputy PGO chief Evhen Enin said in 2015 that Kolobov had a residence permit in Spain and that the Spanish authorities had turned down an extradition request.