At today’s hearing, Roman Nasirov asked the High Anti-Corruption Court to adjourn the case, arguing that on September 29 he had only just signed a contract with his new lawyer, Andrii Kostenko. The lawyer himself initially did not appear, citing a meeting at his child’s school and two other hearings in different courts. The court refused to grant this adjournment.

Later, the new defense counsel did appear and filed a motion for a three-week adjournment to familiarize himself with the case. He argued that he needed time to study the materials and that grounds could arise for returning to the stage of establishing the facts.

The court partially granted Kostenko’s motion and ordered a recess until 11:30 a.m. on October 2, 2025.

Frequent absences and Nasirov’s repeated refusals of counsel at the stage of closing arguments have become a pattern of procedural abuse in this case and appear to be attempts to delay the proceedings. As a result, the risk of the case being closed in 2026 due to the statute of limitations is becoming increasingly real — especially since even after a judgment is delivered, the case could still be subject to appellate review.

As we reported earlier, former Head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov is accused in connection with the Onyshchenko Gas Case, in which, according to the prosecution, he and an accomplice unlawfully issued an order to defer rental payments for subsoil use and to reschedule tax arrears. The state sustained losses of approximately UAH 2 billion.