Lawyer Meniv, with whom former deputy head of SAPO Synyuk met, says he knows neither Mindich nor other persons involved in the case

Lawyer Oleksiy Meniv, whom the former deputy head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO) Andriy Synyuk met with, claims that he does not know Mindich or other defendants in the “Energoatom” corruption case, and his family lives in the house on Hrushevskoho Street.

Meniv spoke about this in a conversation with Babel.

So, according to him, the apartment was rented from June 1, 2025.

"I have three children, I was looking for an apartment in this area for a long time, because my children study here. I was looking for an apartment with three bedrooms for kids and a separate room for adults. As soon as I found it, I immediately rented it," said Meniv and specified that his apartment is located on the 2nd floor.

"I donʼt know who lives in this house. Iʼve never been interested in Mindich. I donʼt know him, and Iʼve never seen him," he noted. Answering a clarifying question, he added that he also doesnʼt know the other people involved in the recordings made public by NABU.

At the same time, Meniv notes that he has known former SAPO prosecutor Andriy Synyuk for a long time, because they studied together and were friends.

"Synyuk and I met and communicated long before he took office, and, accordingly, after. We met often — on the birthdays of our children and wives," he noted.

Meniv also explained that during the meeting with Synyuk, the video of which was shown by Ukrainska Pravda, he discussed personal problems related to his family.

"We never discussed NABU and SAPO cases with Synyuk. As lawyers, we can discuss legal issues, qualification issues, but Synyuk never shared any details of the cases," Meniv noted.

He added that after Synyuk became deputy prosecutor of SAPO, he, as a lawyer, stopped taking cases investigated by anti-corruption agencies. When asked for clarification, Meniv also added that other of his classmates also work in these institutions.

“If we were hiding something with Synyuk, we wouldn’t meet in restaurants and cafes,” he said.

• In November, Babel suggested that Andriy Synyuk was the person involved in the NABUʼs “Midas” operation. However, prosecutors never named him, only specifying that since October 26, 2025, "one of the heads of the prosecutorʼs office" had been reporting on the facts of the pre-trial investigation in this case.
• Later, Ukrainska Pravda published videos of Synyuk meeting with lawyer Oleksiy Meniv. And he visits the house where Mindich lives. Synyuk himself, in his comment to UP, noted that he did not know that Timur Mindich had an apartment in this house. According to him, his friend Meniv lives there. Synyuk says that Meniv himself contacted the UP journalist to provide a lease agreement, but he was ignored.
• After the story was published, SAPO reported that its head Oleksandr Klymenko had launched an internal investigation into a possible leak of information from the pre-trial investigation, but no names were named. Later, Andriy Synyuk told Babel that he had resigned from SAPO of his own free will. SAPO later confirmed this.

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