Mindich wanted to buy half of the “Fire Point” company, which produces “Flamingo” missiles — co-owner of the company

Businessman Tymur Mindich, who appears in a large-scale corruption case in the energy sector, claimed 50% of the shares of the “Fire Point” arms company, which produces, in particular, long-range “Flamingo” missiles.

This was confirmed at a press conference by the “Fire Point” co-owner and chief designer Denys Shtilerman, Suspilne reports.

According to him, Mindich and "other people" came with an offer to become co-owners of Fire Point after the companyʼs products successfully passed testing in March 2024. When asked about the share that Mindich wanted to buy, he replied that it was about 50%.

But the company concluded that the businessmanʼs offer was "not competitive at all", as he offered little money.

"The negotiations lasted quite a long time, he expressed keen interest, but we turned him down in the end and remained friends with him," said Shtilerman.

In total, the founders of “Fire Point” claim to have invested $1.5 million of their own money in the production of weapons.

Shtilerman also admitted that Ihor Fursenko "Rioshyk", a person involved in the NABU Operation “Midas” recordings, worked as an administrator for them and, together with his subordinate, helped evacuate Shtilermanʼs wife from Russia.

"My ex-wife lived in Russia with two children and didnʼt really want to leave. Iʼve probably spoken to Ihor three times in my life. He was doing this. He was employed as an administrator," says Shtilerman.

The companyʼs founders also said that NABU did not conduct searches at their premises, but they handed over documents to detectives in a case about possible overpricing of unmanned systems by six other companies.

• In August, The Kyiv Independent reported that “Fire Point” was linked to businessman and co-owner of Studio Kvartal-95 Tymur Mindich. At the time, NABU was investigating possible overpricing of drones for the Ministry of Defense.
• The company itself said that the investigation was based on rumors from opponents, concerned six different companies, and had nothing to do with Mindich. NABU and SAPO clarified that no investigation was underway into the “Flamingo” missiles.

Political crisis and investigation into corruption in the energy sector

On November 10 and 11, NABU released four parts of the wiretap audio recordings and reported a large-scale "Midas" operation 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 and products supplied or losing their supplier status. This practice was called "barrier".

According to NABU, members of the organization systematically received 10-15% as a bribe from “Energoatom” counterparties. Using this scheme, they legalized approximately $100 million through an office owned by the family of former MP and current senator of the Russian Federation Andriy Derkach.

Five people were detained in this case, and seven were declared suspects. Their names were later announced by the SAPO prosecutor at court hearings:

• businessman Tymur Mindich, who appeared in NABU records as "Carlson" and is considered the organizer of the scheme;
• former advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myronyuk (“Rocket”);
• Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of JSC NNEGC “Energoatom” Dmitry Basov (“Tenor”);
• four "employees" of the back office for money laundering: Oleksandr Zukerman ("Sugarman"), Ihor Fursenko ("Rioshyk"), Lesya Ustymenko and Lyudmila Zorina.

Myronyuk, Basov, Zorina, Fursenko, and Ustymenko have already been sent to custody, and sanctions have been imposed against Mindich and Zukerman. Subsequently, a total of UAH 37 million in bail was paid for Zorina and Ustymenko.

The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, who at the time was Herman Halushchenko. He was searched in the case, and on November 12 he was removed from his post as Minister of Justice.

The SAPO prosecutor claimed that one of the defendants in the case interviewed Svitlana Hrynchuk, who later replaced Halushchenko as Minister of Energy.

Both ministers resigned, the government voted to dismiss Hrynchuk and Halushchenko from the posts of heads of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Justice. In addition, Zelensky removed both ministers from the National Security and Defense Council.

NABU also claims that the participants in the scheme transferred money to former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, who was suspected of illegal enrichment and sent to custody for 2 months. The next day, journalists from the Schemes project, citing sources, reported that bail was paid for him — over UAH 51.6 million.

After these events, President Zelensky and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported an audit of the largest state-owned companies and a large-scale "reset" in energy management.

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