Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko submitted a motion to the Verkhovna Rada to dismiss Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko.
She wrote about this on social media.
She stated that both had submitted their resignations.
On the morning of November 12, the government, at an extraordinary meeting, decided to remove Herman Halushchenko from the duties of Minister of Justice.
Earlier in the evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address that the ministers of justice and energy should resign due to the corruption case at “Energoatom”. After that, Hrynchuk wrote on Facebook that she had submitted her resignation.
"The position has never been an end in itself for me. I am grateful to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and the MPs for the opportunity to work for the benefit of the state, which I have done over the past 10 years in various positions in the civil service, starting with the chief specialist," said Hrynchuk.
She emphasized that there were no violations of the law within the scope of her professional activities.
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 and products delivered or being stripped of 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 advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Myronyuk, and "Tenor" is the executive director for physical protection and security of “Energoatom” Dmytro Basov.
The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, a position held at the time by Herman Halushchenko, the current Minister of Justice of Ukraine. He was searched as part of the case.
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.
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