President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that he has not communicated with businessman Tymur Mindich since the beginning of the investigation into possible corruption in the energy sector.
He said this in an interview with Bloomberg.
"The most important thing is to convict the guilty. The president of a country at war cannot have friends," the president said.
Separately, Zelensky noted that the case involves "business and some government officials" and "first of all, ministers bear political responsibility, and then, depending on the results of the investigation and court decisions, other responsibility".
The “Energoatom” case
On 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".
According to NABU, members of the organization systematically received 10-15% of bribes from “Energoatom” counterparties. Using this scheme, they legalized approximately $100 million through an office owned by the family of the 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”. He 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.
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, who has already been charged with illegal enrichment.
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