Tymur Mindich says he is ready to return to Ukraine and go to pre-trial detention center “if there is honest bail”

Tymur Mindich, a defendant in the energy embezzlement case, is ready to return to Ukraine "if there is honest collateral".

He said this in a conversation with the MP from “European Solidarity” Oleksiy Honcharenko.

"I am definitely in favour of what NABU is doing. I am a friend of the president, and this is my only sin today. There is increased interest in me, and I am not against checking some facts. But I am against charges before the court and the investigation," he said.

Mindich added that he was twice denied access to the online trial and that he was "forced" to be in Israel.

"I would come to Ukraine today, I would be suspected, and I would even go to prison if there was a fair bail. I just understand that there will be a bail that I will not be able to collect," Mindich emphasized.

When asked about the sanctions imposed by Zelensky, Mindich noted: "He is my friend and also the president of the country. These are two different things. Just because I am a friend, shouldnʼt sanctions be imposed? It seems to me that as a president he did the right thing, but as a friend... Well, listen, if this is true [the accusations against Mindich], then we donʼt need such friends either, he is right. And if it is not true, letʼs figure it out."

He said he did not know whether he had been stripped of his citizenship or why sanctions had been imposed on him. Mindich also stressed that Zelensky did not personally communicate with him after that and that he had not had close contact with Zelensky after he became president.

The “Midas” case

Tymur Mindich is considered the organizer of a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector. On December 1, the Supreme Court of Ukraine sent him into custody in absentia.

According to NABU, “Energoatom” contractors were forced to pay kickbacks in order to avoid blocking payments for services provided and products supplied or being deprived of supplier status. In addition to Mindich, the following are involved in the case:

• former advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myroniuk (“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.

The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, who at that time held this position Herman Halushchenko. 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.

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