Zelenskyy sanctions associate as corruption scandal engulfs Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on Timur Mindich amid a $176.2 million corruption scandal. Photo / Handout, AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered sanctions on an associate and former business partner at the heart of a massive corruption scandal that has sparked outrage in a nation exhausted by nearly four years of war.

The sanctions on a supposed friend of the Ukrainian leader came a day after Zelenskyy asked two ministers to resign, distancing himself from allies implicated in a giant money-laundering scheme.

Anti-graft officers have said the scheme saw US$100 million ($176.2m) in funds from the energy sector – battered by Moscow’s attacks – siphoned off.

Investigators had named Timur Mindich – a 46-year-old businessman known to have close ties with Zelenskyy – as the mastermind.

Zelenskyy’s office published a decree imposing “personal special economic” sanctions on Mindich and another businessman, Oleksandr Tsukermann.

It ordered their assets to be frozen, state awards revoked and restrictions on their travel and business activities.

Both men are also citizens of Israel and are believed to have left Ukraine.

Donors urge reform

The implication of Mindich, described as a close friend of Zelenskyy by Ukrainian media, could be potentially damaging for the wartime leader.

Germany, a key ally of Ukraine, said it expected Kyiv to do more to fight corruption.

But Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban, a longtime critic of Ukraine, said “a Ukrainian war mafia network with a thousand ties to President Zelensky has been exposed”.

The International Monetary Fund, from which Kyiv is seeking a new loan, said that eradicating corruption was a “central piece of reform for the donor community”.

‘He can go to hell’

A senior official working closely with Zelenskyy told AFP he was furious and had not spoken to Mindich since the scandal came to light this week.

“What is there to talk about? He [Mindich] can go to hell,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that Zelenskyy “was f***ing stunned when he found out what was happening”.

Mindich co-owned the production company Kvartal 95, founded by Zelenskyy when he was a star comedian.

“What is there to talk about? He can go to hell,” the official said about Mindich, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Zelenskyy was “stunned when he found out what was happening”.

Zelenskyy fired his justice and energy ministers this week over the scheme.

“The President has taken the toughest steps he could within his powers,” the official said.

- Agence France-Presse