On November 19, the parliament voted to dismiss Herman Halushchenko from the post of Minister of Justice of Ukraine, as well as Svitlana Hrynchuk from the post of Minister of Energy. They are included in the NABU investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
This became known from the broadcast of the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada.
The parliament supported Halushchenkoʼs resignation by 323 votes. No one objected.
At the same time, 315 MPs voted for Hrynchukʼs dismissal.
Both ministers were not in the parliament hall during the vote. MPs summoned Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov to the Verkhovna Rada. According to the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, Svyrydenko is negotiating with the IMF, so Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka came instead.
The “European Solidarity” MPs blocked the rostrum for the second day in a row — they demanded a report from Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Ministers Halushchenko and Hrynchuk before considering their resignations.
"European Solidarity" also demands the resignation of the entire government, not just two ministers.
In his speech, a member of parliament from the “Voice” faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak called on the Verkhovna Rada to release "all those involved" in the corruption scheme in the energy sector, and the head of the Presidentʼs Office Andriy Yermak "first and foremost".
In addition, Zheleznyak initiated the dismissal of Oleksiy Kuleba from the position of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine — Minister of Community and Territorial Development.
Political crisis and corruption investigation in the energy sector
On November 10 and 11, NABU released four parts of the wiretap audio recordings and announced 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 NABU records 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 have already been sent to custody, and sanctions have been imposed against Mindich and Zukerman. Subsequently, a total of UAH 37 million in bail was paid for Zorina and Ustymenko.
The NABU recordings also show the Minister of Energy, who at the time was Herman Halushchenko. He was searched in the case, and on November 12 he was removed from his post as Minister of Justice.
The SAPO prosecutor claimed that one of the defendants in the case interviewed Svitlana Hrynchuk, who later replaced Halushchenko as Minister of Energy.
Both ministers have resigned, and the Verkhovna Rada will consider the issue this week. In addition, Zelensky has already 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 has already been suspected of illegal enrichment and sent to custody.
President Zelensky and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported an audit of the largest state-owned companies and a large-scale "reset" in energy management.
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