SAPO: Mindich helped Minister Halushchenko by “intercession” before Zelensky

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO) stated that the organizer of the money laundering scheme surrounding “Energoatom” built ties with former Minister of Energy and Minister of Justice Herman Halushchenko through his connections with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The SAPO prosecutor Serhiy Savytskyi stated this at a meeting on the selection of a preventive measure for one of the defendants in the case, former advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myronyuk.

The prosecutor claims that the organizers of the scheme were two businessmen: Tymur Mindich, who is called a friend of Zelensky, and Oleksandr Zukerman.

According to the prosecutor, since the beginning of 2025, Mindich influenced the then Ministers of Energy and Defense Herman Halushchenko and Rustem Umerov.

The prosecutor claims that, with the assistance of Halushchenko, Mindich controlled financial flows in Ukraineʼs gas and energy sectors.

"Halushchenko received personal benefit by interceding for Mindich before the president and using services organized by Mindich to legalize the laundering of funds obtained through criminal means through the ministerʼs trusted person, advisor Myronyuk," he noted.

The prosecutor also confirmed that the former Minister of National Unity, who was then the Minister of National Unity, was also involved in the scheme. This position was held by Oleksiy Chernyshov.

In addition, the prosecutor spoke about who owned the code names on the recordings made public by NABU: “Chef” — Zukerman, “Carlson” — Mindich, “Sigismund” or “Professor” — Halushchenko, “Che Guevara” — Chernyshov.

The prosecutor also stated that Ihor Myronyuk allegedly interviewed Svitlana Hrynchuk for the position of Minister of Energy in the summer of 2025. Hrynchuk took up this position in July 2025, replacing Herman Halushchenko, who became Minister of Justice.

The “Energoatom” case

On the morning of November 10, NABU reported a large-scale operation "Midas" to expose corruption in the energy sector.

According to the bureau, “Energoatom” counterparties were forced to pay kickbacks in order to avoid blocking payments for services provided/products delivered or losing their supplier status. This practice was called "barrier".

Five people were detained in this case, and seven were declared suspects. These are:

• a businessman — the head of a criminal organization, who appeared in NABU recordings as "Carlson";
• former advisor to the Minister of Energy — "Rocket";
• Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of JSC NNEGC “Energoatom” — "Tenor";
• four "employees" of the back office for money laundering.

NABU does not name any of the defendants, but the MP from “Voice” Yaroslav Zheleznyak claims that "Carlson" is Tymur Mindich, who is called a friend of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and one of the co-owners of the company "Studio Kvartal-95".

According to Zheleznyak, "Rocket" is the former advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myronyuk, and "Tenor" is the executive director for physical protection and security of “Energoatom” Dmytro Basov.

The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, a position held at the time by Herman Halushchenko, the current Minister of Justice of Ukraine. He was searched as part of the case.

NABU also claims that the participants in the scheme transferred money to the former Deputy Prime Minister. Presumably, this is Oleksiy Chernyshov. He has already been charged with illegal enrichment.

According to NABU, in the case of corruption in the energy sector, the defendants legalized approximately $100 million through an office owned by the family of the former MP and current Senator of the Russian Federation Andriy Derkach.

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