NABU and SAPO are conducting searches at Andriy Yermakʼs house. What is known (UPD)

On November 28, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO) are conducting searches at the home of the Head of the Presidential Office (OP) Andriy Yermak.

This is reported by a correspondent of Ukrainska Pravda from the scene of the incident.

Babel reached out to NABU, SAPO, and the Office of the President for comment. NABU declined to comment, and SAPO and the Office of the President have not yet responded.

At 09:00, NABU confirmed that they were conducting searches at Yermakʼs house together with SAPO. They reported that they had a warrant for conducting investigative actions and promised details later.

Later, the head of OP commented on the searches in his home, noting that he was assisting investigators.

"There are no obstacles for the investigators. They were given full access to the apartment, my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officers. From my side, full assistance," Yermak wrote.

Financial Times chief correspondent in Kyiv Christopher Miller, citing sources, wrote that the searches at Yermakʼs home were related to the “Midas” investigation, a corruption case at “Energoatom”.

Previously, the MP from "Voice" Yaroslav Zheleznyak claimed that Yermak appears on "Mindichʼs recordings" under the code name "Ali Baba".

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 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” 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 UAH 37 million were paid as bail for Zorina and Ustymenko. Later, UAH 95 million were also paid for Fursenko.

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 Schemes, 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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