SBI has published preliminary results of the investigation into possible connections of its employees with those involved in the “Midas” case

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has not recorded a single case of pressure, influence, or instructions in the interests of third parties on employees of the Bureau in the case of investigating corruption in the energy sector.

This was reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation.

Investigators checked information about bribes received by individual SBI employees for access to investigation data, pressure on individual officials, and searches ordered by those involved in the case.

In total, as part of the investigation, SBI questioned more than 30 people, conducted 12 photo identifications, and sent 19 inquiries.

The Bureau found out that some of the people involved in the Midas case visited the SBI building due to circumstances related to the investigation of another criminal case. They say they have carefully checked the possible influence of the people involved in the “Midas” case on the SBI employees.

"According to the results of the investigation, it was established that no pressure, influence, or instructions in the interests of third parties were exerted on the SBI employees, and no actions were taken at the request of those involved in the NABU case," the Bureau summarized.

They also did not confirm information about any influence on their employees who appear on the “Mindich” recordings. They do not name names, but the “Mindich” recordings and court hearings regarding the defendants in this case mentioned the possible connection with SBI of Ihor Myronyuk (“Rocket”).

The analysis conducted indicated exclusively the desire of those involved in the Midas case to gain access to the investigative bodies, and not the actual facts of influence or agreements reached.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The preliminary findings of the SBI inspection have been submitted to the Chairman of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Political crisis and corruption investigation 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 recordings 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” Dmytro 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 37 million hryvnias 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 announced an audit of the largest state-owned companies and a large-scale "reset" in energy management.

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