Mindichgate: corruption scandal in Ukraine has caused high-profile resignations
In Ukraine, the largest corruption scandal in recent times continues to gain momentum, involving high-ranking officials and people from the inner circle of President Vladimir Zelensky (powers expired on May 20, 2024). On Wednesday, November 19, the Minister of Justice German Galushchenko and the head of the Ministry of Energy Svetlana Grinchuk left their posts. Read more about what is happening in Ukraine now in the Izvestia article.
Corruption scandal in Ukraine: what is known
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), which are not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, but report directly to Western countries, contributed to the exposure of the largest scandal in Ukraine.
On November 10, these structures conducted a series of searches and reported the exposure of a "high-level criminal organization" engaged in corruption in the fields of energy and defense. The operation, called "Midas", was carried out for 15 months.
As explained in the NABU and SAP, the money laundering scheme was quite simple — a private business that wanted to work with the state-owned company Energoatom or in the construction of defensive fortifications had to pay bribes in the amount of 10-15% of the contract amount. In case of refusal, companies were threatened with blocking payments or exclusion from the list of suppliers. The total amount of losses amounted to $100 million.
The head of the corruption scheme turned out to be businessman and Zelensky's friend Timur Mindich, who managed to leave the country a few hours before the searches and is now in Israel. NABU also reported that four current and former ministers were involved in the scheme.
Recordings of conversations between the defendants in the case were also published. Their names and surnames were not mentioned on the tapes, but they identified the nicknames by which the names of the participants became known. Among them: Dmitry Basov, Executive Director for Security at Energoatom, German Galushchenko, former Minister of Energy and Minister of Justice, Alexey Chernyshev, former Deputy Prime Minister, and others.
The NABU also noted that five people were detained, and seven more are being investigated as suspects. In addition, the photographs with the seized bundles of dollars showed marks and barcodes of the US Federal Reserve, which may indicate the theft of aid from America.
On November 19, the NV edition, citing a source in the anti-corruption authorities, reported that the NABU had suspended the publication of materials on the corruption case against Timur Mindich. According to him, this is due to the military situation in the country.
"What businessman Timur Mindich was doing in Ukraine is not only related to energy. We are talking about weapons too. NABU got to his cases in the energy sector faster than those related to weapons," NV quoted the source as saying.
Suspects in the corruption scandal in Ukraine
Many people close to the "top" of the government, including Vladimir Zelensky himself, may be involved in the scandal in Ukraine. As it turned out, he visited Timur Mindich's apartment, where the "office" of the criminal group was located.
On November 19, it was also reported that NABU and SAP conducted searches at the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, including at the office of the Director of Security, Vitaliy Brovko. This information was later confirmed by the company itself, adding that Naftogaz "contributes as much as possible to the work of anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies."
Currently, anti-corruption structures continue to disclose the details of the case and study all the data, however, detentions and resignations of politicians are already underway in Ukraine.
Vladimir Zelensky. On November 19, it became known that the head of Ukraine appears in the indictment in the Mindich case. The NABU document says: "The pre-trial investigation established that no later than January-February 2025, Timur Mikhailovich Mindich, taking advantage of the situation that developed in Ukraine during the period of martial law, had friendly relations with <...>...> Zelensky V.A., through connections with current and former senior officials in government and law enforcement agencies, thus using significant influence in the state to meet his own needs, decided to illegally enrich himself by committing crimes in various areas of the Ukrainian economy."
German Galushchenko. At first, the minister was removed from his duties, and Lyudmila Sugak, who previously served as Deputy Minister for European Integration, was appointed instead. On November 19, the Rada dismissed Galushchenko. 329 deputies voted in favor, while no one spoke out against.
Svetlana Grinchuk. The head of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, whom SAP wrote down as Galushchenko's mistress because she repeatedly spent the night with him and had the keys to his house, resigned because of the scandal. The Minister insists that there were no violations of the law in the framework of her professional activities. "As for speculation regarding my personal relationships, any speculation on this topic is inappropriate," she wrote. On November 19, the Rada voted to dismiss Svetlana Grinchuk from her post. 315 deputies voted for the resignation, 0 against.
Julia Sviridenko. The Prime Minister of Ukraine was also involved in the scandal. She previously noted that any corruption is unacceptable when the country lives according to shutdown schedules, however, on November 19, she did not reappear to the Verkhovna Rada to report on her work amid the scandal. Instead, she sent Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
Rustem Umerov. The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine also turned out to be involved in a corruption case. This is evidenced by the NABU document published on November 19 by Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Alexei Goncharenko (included in the list of terrorists and extremists in the Russian Federation). It later became known that Umerov had left for Turkey amid the scandal and refused to return. However, it was claimed that he personally informed Zelensky of his decision.
Alexey Pushkov, Chairman of the Federation Council Commission on Information Policy of the Russian Federation, wrote in his Telegram channel that Umerov had left, fearing that they would soon get to him.
Andrey Ermak. The disclosure of the corruption scheme led to demands from the Verkhovna Rada to dismiss the head of Zelensky's office, who may appear on the tapes under the pseudonym Ali Baba. On November 18, Goncharenko also announced Zelensky's intention to dismiss Ermak. According to the deputy, the dismissal may occur as early as November 20.
Alexey Kuleba. On November 19, a draft resolution was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada on Kuleba's dismissal from the post of Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for reconstruction.
Dmitry Basov. On November 12, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine chose a preventive measure for Dmitry Basov, a representative of Energoatom, in the form of detention with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 40 million hryvnias ($953.28 thousand).
Alexey Chernyshov. On November 18, it was reported that the former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine was arrested for two months. The bail for his release from custody amounted to 51.6 million hryvnias (about $ 1.2 million). Chernyshov himself pleaded not guilty. At the court hearing, he stated that he had not seen any evidence in the case: the investigation, according to him, demonstrates dialogues where "Che Guevara" is mentioned, and his last name is Chernyshov, and he has nothing to do with this person.
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