10 November 2025
Ukraine launches investigation into corruption at state nuclear company Energoatom
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency has launched a wide-ranging investigation into alleged bribery within the country’s energy sector, focusing on state-owned nuclear company Energoatom.
The independent agency said on Monday that a former adviser to the energy minister, Energoatom’s security chief, a businessman and four other employees were involved. It said EnergoAtom’s business partners were forced to pay large bribes. The energy ministry and Energoatom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau said, “The activities of a high-level criminal organization have been documented.”
“Its members planned corruption on a large scale to influence strategic enterprises in the public sector,” it said.
It said the investigation involved 1,000 hours of audio recordings and took 15 months of work.
Fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law remain key conditions for Ukraine’s EU accession effort. In July, protests and international pressure forced President Volodymyr Zelensky to restore the independence of the country’s main anti-corruption bodies after the government tried to limit their powers.
The investigation comes as Ukraine’s power grid suffered severe damage from a new wave of Russian attacks this autumn, causing widespread blackouts. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia did not directly attack nuclear plants but targeted substations connecting them to the grid.
The bureau says the case involves misappropriation of $100 million (€87 million).
Energoatom is the legal operator of all four of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants – Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, South Ukraine and the Zaporizhia plant – although the latter, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, is currently under Russian occupation and in cold storage for security.