NAPC did not find any facts that its employees were involved in corruption at “Energoatom”
- Author:
- Oleksandr Bulin
- Date:
The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has completed an internal investigation into the “Energoatom” corruption case. It was initiated on November 10, 2025, in response to the NABUʼs publication of the "Mindich recordings".
This is stated on the NAPC website.
In the "recordings", the agency mentions the executive director for physical protection and security of “Energoatom” Dmytro Basov, known as "Tenor".
According to the results of the inspection, NAPC did not find any facts confirming the involvement of agency employees in corruption, receiving undue benefits, or the presence of external influence on decision-making.
The “Midas” Case
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 the 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 were sent to custody, and sanctions were imposed against Mindich and Zukerman. Later, bail of 37 million hryvnias was posted for Zorina and Ustymenko, and UAH 95 million for Fursenko.
The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, who at the time was Herman Halushchenko. He was searched as part of the case.
The SAPO prosecutor claimed that one of the defendants in the case interviewed Svitlana Hrynchuk, who later replaced Halushchenko as Minister of Energy.
Hrynchuk and Halushchenko were dismissed from their posts as heads of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Justice, and 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 two months. The next day, journalists from Schemes, citing sources, reported that bail was paid for him — over UAH 51.6 million.
On December 1, HACC sent Tymur Mindich into custody in absentia.
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