On 10 November Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced that a criminal group was operating at nuclear utility Energoatom, members of which took kickbacks from contractors in the amount of 10-15% of the value of contracts. NABU did not initially name those involved.
“Using their official connections in the ministry and the state-owned company, they ensured control over personnel decisions, procurement processes, and financial flows,” it said. “In fact, the management of a strategic enterprise … was carried out not by state officials, but by third parties who had no formal authority, [but] took on the role of ‘overseers’ or ‘shadow managers.”
The names were later revealed and widely reported by Ukrainian media. According to RBC-Ukraine, businessman Timur Mindich, former advisor to the Minister of Energy Igor Myronyuk, Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of Energoatom Dmitry Basov, and former Energy Minister (currently Justice Minister) German Galushchenko were involved.
NABU said its 15-month investigation and 1,000 hours of wiretapping involving the bureau’s entire staff culminated in 70 raids. Some of the wiretappings were from July, the same month Ukraine’s government and parliament tried to strip NABU of its independence and bring it under political control – a move that was later reversed following nationwide protests.
According to Ukrainska Pravda NABU conducted searches at the home of businessman Tymur Mindich, co-owner of Kvartal 95, the Ukrainian production company Volodymyr Zelenskyy founded before he became president. However, Mindich left Ukraine just a few hours before the NABU search took place.
NABU confirmed that, together with the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), it was conducting a large-scale operation, Operation Midas, to expose corruption in the energy sector.
Energoatom issued a statement saying company staff was working in an intensified mode, ensuring stable generation of about 60% of the country’s electricity. “The main task remaining before us is the reliable, steady and safe operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants; this provides guarantees the energy security of our state.” It added: “We would like to emphasise that the incident that occurred at the company has not caused any damage to the assets and financial condition of Energoatom, moreover, it has not affected the implementation of production plans and the NPP operational safety. Energoatom has been and remains the pillar of Ukraine’s energy system; together with our partners, we ensure the reliable operation of nuclear power facilities and uninterrupted supply of electricity for Ukraine’s needs.”
Energoatom’s Supervisory Board said it “takes the recent allegations of corruption involving Energoatom employees with the utmost seriousness”. It added: “The Board will convene a dedicated meeting to thoroughly assess the situation and determine appropriate actions. These will include commissioning an independent review of relevant transactions as well as a comprehensive evaluation of the company’s internal procedures and control processes.”
Subsequently, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the dissolution of the Supervisory Board in order to “relaunch” it, conduct an audit, and assist the investigation.
On 11 November, NABU charged eight people with bribery, abuse of office, and illicit enrichment. It also published the apes where the group, using code names and encrypted language, discussed alleged kickbacks and bribes.
The main organiser of the alleged corruption scheme was Mindich, according to the bureau. Dmitry Basov, Security Director of the Ukrainian company Energoatom, was arrested on charges of complicity in corruption. Public TV channel News noted: “According to the decision of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court, the Executive Director for Security at Energoatom, Dmitry Basov, was taken into custody for 60 days, with the possibility of posting a bail of UAH40m (approximately $1m).”
According to the investigation, Basov was involved in blocking payments to Energoatom’s contractors. This allowed him to demand bribes of 10-15% of the contract amount. Igor Mironyuk, an advisor to the former Energy Minister Galushchenko, was also arrested with the possibility of posting a bail of UAH136.6m.
According to SAPO, during his arrest, Myroniuk tore up and threw documents out the window. He also attempted to throw his phone out the window. The investigation believes that Myroniuk was the overall leader of the criminal group, controlling the key processes of the state-owned company, including all procurement, personnel appointments, and financial calculations.
Galushchenko, who was Energy Minister from 2021 to 2025 and also Deputy Director of Energopatom, has not yet been charged. However, according to the investigation, it was Galushchenko who involved Myroniuk and Basov in the uncovered corruption scheme. He has been removed from his current position as Minister of Justice, which he assumed in July. During one of the court proceedings, it was revealed that Galushchenko had a close relationship with the current Minister of Energy, Svetlana Grinchuk. According to the investigation, she spent several nights at her predecessor’s house and even had the keys to his home.
The Kyiv Independent the case and the roles of those involved. According the NABU tapes, Mindich used the alias Karlsson, Myroniuk used the alias Rocket in the tapes. Basov was identified as Tenor on the tapes. Four other people were charged who worked at a back office used for money laundering, according to the NABU. One of them is businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman, with the alias Sugarman.
According to the NABU tapes, participants of the alleged corruption scheme allegedly gave $1.2m and €100,000 to former Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov, known as Che Guevara. He was charged with illicit enrichment. Chernyshov was fired after NABU charged him with bribery and abuse of office in June. Of the eight people charged, Mindich and Tsukerman have fled, and five others have been detained. Galushchenko, who is sometimes identified as “energy minister” and sometimes by the code name Professor, also features in the NABU tapes.
Myroniuk and Basov allegedly collected 10-15% in kickbacks from Energoatom’s contractors in exchange for keeping their status as suppliers and for not blocking their products and services, according to NABU.
The participants of the scheme blackmailed and pressured contractors by taking advantage of a government regulation that bans contractors from claiming debts in court from certain strategic companies, including Energoatom, during martial law.
“We’ll just revoke the certification and cancel the technical specifications…,” Myroniuk allegedly said in the tapes, describing his efforts to pressure contractors. “It’ll be total chaos for the whole line of companies. You’ll just end up on the blacklist. You’ll be wiped out completely, and all your employees will be conscripted into the army.”
In the tapes, the participants of the corruption scheme also express reluctance to build defensive installations for energy facilities to protect them from Russian attacks. “So we won’t build protective structures anymore?” Basov said. “I would wait,” Myroniuk replied. “It’s a waste of money – not worth it.”
Later, they discuss giving contracts for protective structures to a company that they control to earn money from such projects. Myroniuk and Basov also discuss increasing kickbacks for the construction of defensive installations from 10% to 15%.
The alleged kickbacks from Energoatom were laundered at a back office in downtown Kyiv, according to the NABU. The back office was allegedly headed by Tsukerman and has laundered around $100m.
NABU said that Tsukerman’s activities were, in turn, controlled by Mindich from the upper floor of a building on Hrushevsky Street — an apparent reference to the building where both Mindich and Zelensky have apartments.
Mindich also discusses receiving money from Tsukerman in the recordings. NABU said that the conversation took place after Galushchenko visited the President’s Office. Among other things, Mindich mentions some unknown agreement about money with prosecutors, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and the Economic Security Bureau. These are just the first results of the Midas Operation conducted by NABU and SAPO. More developments are expected.
