The intrigue surrounding the corruption scandal in Ukraine has deepened: Justice Minister German Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grinchchuk announced they would step down at the request of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Their resignations are one of the fallouts of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) revelations about a large-scale money laundering scheme in the energy and defense sectors. Both the politicians have rejected the allegations against them.
NABU began its investigation in the summer of 2024. In particular, it investigated the business of Energoatom, the state-owned company which operates four nuclear power plants in Ukraine. The operation was codenamed “Midas”, after King Midas of Greek myth, who turned everything he touched into gold.
Corruption probe looks for evidence among dozens of top officials
Oleksandr Abakumov, who led the investigative team, said in a video on NABU’s YouTube channel that about 70 searches were conducted among high-ranking officials on the morning of November 10. Thousands of hours of audio recordings were collected during the investigation, providing evidence against a high-ranking criminal group in the energy and defense sectors.
On Tuesday, NABU announced that five suspects had been arrested. In total, seven people are suspected of being part of the criminal group.
The home of Ukrainian Justice Minister German Galushchenko was also among those searched. Galushchenko led the Energy Ministry before Svitlana Hrynichuk from April 2021 to July 2025. From 2020 to 2021, he was also the Vice President of Energoatom. The Justice Ministry confirmed that the investigation was part of criminal proceedings.
How did the corrupt system operate?
According to the investigation, members of the criminal group demanded bribes from contractors of the energy company. This was 10 to 15% of the total value of the contract. Otherwise, payment for services provided or products delivered will likely be withheld and their supplier status cancelled.
“In fact, a system was created in which a strategic company with a turnover of more than 200 billion hryvnia [around €4 billion, $4.63 billion] “It was not managed by top managers, the supervisory board or the state as owner, but by an outsider who played the role of shadow manager without authorisation,” a NABU statement said.
Wiretap transcript reveals codenames
According to investigator Abakumov, the criminal group includes a former adviser to the Minister of Energy, the managing director of protection and security at Energoatom, four back-office employees involved in anti-money laundering and a businessman, whom investigators consider the head of the criminal organization.
The NABU files and wiretap transcripts use code names rather than the real names of the suspects: “Tenor” for the managing director of conservation and safety at Energoatom, “Rocket” for the former deputy head of the State Property Fund and advisor to then Energy Minister Galushchenko, and “Carlson” for the man who allegedly led the gang. In a video podcast for the newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, Abakumov said that it was not the investigators who invented the pseudonyms, but the group members themselves.
According to Abakumov, the group controlled personnel decisions, purchases, and cash flows with the help of its contacts in the ministry and Energoatom.
Speculation intensifies regarding involvement of Zelensky’s confidant
According to NABU, “Carlson” controlled the so-called “laundromat”, which channeled money obtained through criminal activities into the legal financial and economic system. Member of Parliament Yaroslav Shelesnyak of the “Holos” (Voice) faction claims that the “Carlson” heard in the NABU wiretap recording is actually businessman Timur Mindich. According to Ukrainian media reports, Mindich’s home was one of the targets of NABU searches on 10 November.
Mindich is considered a close ally and confidant of President Zelensky. Among other roles, he is co-owner of the TV production company “Kvartal-95”, which Zelensky helped establish. According to a source at the news portal Ukrainska Pravda, Mindich left Ukraine a few hours before the discovery.
Millions of US dollars in bundles of cash
Abakumov told Ukrainska Pravda that investigators had filmed the four former ministers in various situations. During the search, NABU seized over $4 million in marked bundles of cash in standard packaging from the US Federal Reserve Bank.
“This shows that the money was transferred to someone from America,” the investigation chief said. “That could have been a bank in Europe or somewhere else in the world. Then it ended up in Ukraine in this form.”
Energoatom’s supervisory board said it takes corruption allegations against employees very seriously and announced a special meeting to determine what action to take: “This includes launching an independent audit of the transactions in question and a comprehensive assessment of the company’s internal processes and control systems,” it said in a statement posted on Facebook.
EnergoAtom said the corruption scandal would not affect the company’s assets or its financial position, nor would it have any impact on production plans or the safety of its nuclear power plants. “Our main task is the reliable, stable and safe operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, which ensures the country’s energy security,” the company said.
What do Ukraine’s leaders say about the corruption investigation?
For his part, Zelensky demanded that the scandal be investigated and those responsible held accountable: “Energoatom is Ukraine’s largest energy supplier. Integrity within the company is a top priority. The energy sector and all other industries, anyone involved in such conspiracies, must be brought to justice. There must be a verdict,” the president said in a video address on November 10.
Speaking to broadcaster Suspilne, Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko underlined her willingness to support the country’s anti-corruption authorities in their investigation: “The fight against corruption is one of the government’s top priorities. There must be convictions and mandatory penalties for all crimes,” she said, adding that the government has suspended the powers of Energoatom’s supervisory board and ordered an immediate audit of the company, particularly its procurement.
This article was originally published in Ukrainian.