President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk should resign. They are often called the people of Tymur Mindich, one of the main suspects in the “Energoatom” corruption case.
Zelensky stated this in a video address.
Halushchenko was searched as part of the “Energoatom” corruption case, and on November 12, he was removed from his position as Minister of Justice.
Zelensky asked the Prime Minister Svyrydenko to write resignation letters and asks MPs to support these statements.
Zelensky said he supports the law enforcement investigation and added that he will sign sanctions against two people who appear in the NABU investigation.
The “Energoatom” case
On the morning of November 10, NABU reported a large-scale operation "Midas" 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 provided/products delivered or losing their supplier status. This practice was called "barrier".
Five people were detained in this case, and seven were declared suspects. These are:
- a businessman — the head of a criminal organization, who appeared in NABU records as "Carlson";
- former advisor to the Minister of Energy — "Rocket";
- Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of JSC NNEGC “Energoatom” — "Tenor";
- four "employees" of the back office for money laundering.
NABU does not name any of the defendants, but the MP from “Voice” Yaroslav Zheleznyak claims that "Carlson" is Tymur Mindich, who is called a friend of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and one of the co-owners of the company "Studio Kvartal-95".
According to Zheleznyak, "Rocket" is the former adviser to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myronyuk, and "Tenor" is the executive director for physical protection and security of “Energoatom” Dmytro Basov, who has already been sent under arrest.
The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, the position held by Herman Halushchenko at the time. He was searched in the case, and on November 12, he was removed from his position as Minister of Justice.
NABU also claims that the participants in the scheme transferred money to the former Deputy Prime Minister. Presumably, this is Oleksiy Chernyshov. He has already been charged with illegal enrichment.
According to NABU, in the case of corruption in the energy sector, the defendants legalized approximately $100 million through an office owned by the family of the former MP and current Senator of the Russian Federation Andriy Derkach.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.