Key Zelenskyy ally accused over $170m corruption scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Eradicating systemic corruption is one of the top requirements for Ukraine’s European Union membership. Photo / John Thys, AFP

Ukrainian investigators today accused a key ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of orchestrating a US$100 million ($170m) corruption scheme, as a major standoff over graft in the war-torn country escalates.

The accusations against Timur Mindich are the latest episode in a sweeping corruption scandal involving claims of massive embezzlement from the energy sector, even as the country’s infrastructure is battered by Russian attacks.

Mindich co-owns the media production company Kvartal 95, founded by Zelenskyy, who was a star comedian before running for office.

“Mindich exercised control over the accumulation, distribution, and legalisation of money obtained through criminal means in the energy sector of Ukraine,” a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo) said.

The suspect used “friendly relations with the President of Ukraine” in his criminal activity, the prosecutor added during a pre-trial hearing for another man accused of involvement in the scheme.

Sapo also accused Justice Minister German Galushchenko, previously an energy minister for four years, of receiving “personal benefits” from Mindich in exchange for control over the money flows in the energy sector.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) said yesterday that it had uncovered a graft scheme in the energy sector involving US$100m of laundered funds, later adding that five people had been arrested and seven others charged.

Nabu carried out mass raids following a 15-month investigation into the energy sector, which has been under regular attack since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The head of Nabu’s investigating team Oleksandr Abakumov told Ukrainian state TV that Mindich had left the country shortly before the raids.

Accusations of embezzlement from the energy industry at a time of relentless attacks and widespread power shortages have stoked fresh public anger.

Eradicating systemic corruption is one of the top requirements for Ukraine’s European Union membership.

President Zelenskyy faced a massive backlash from Ukrainians and Brussels over the summer when he tried to bring the two independent anti-corruption bodies, Nabu and Sapo, under the Government’s control.

-Agence France-Presse