NABU has announced suspicions against seven defendants in a case of large-scale corruption in the energy sector, including businessman and co-owner of the “Kvartal 95” studio Timur Mindich. RBK-Ukraine reports this, citing its own sources and a statement of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
According to information from NABU and SAPO, the activities of a criminal organization were exposed, which included current and former energy officials, a well-known businessman, and other individuals. Its participants created a corruption scheme to influence the work of strategic state enterprises, in particular JSC “NAEGC “Energoatom”, in order to obtain illegal benefits and launder money.
Currently, detectives have detained five people in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and reported suspicion to seven members of the organization, including: a businessman – the head of the criminal structure; a former advisor to the Minister of Energy; the executive director for physical protection and security of JSC “NAEGC “Energoatom”; as well as four people from the “back office” for money laundering. The issue of choosing preventive measures is being resolved.
The main direction of the criminal organization’s activity was the systematic receipt of bribes from counterparties of “Energoatom” — in the amount of 10% to 15% of the contract value. Counterparties were forced to pay “kickbacks” in order to avoid blocking payments for services provided or products delivered, or in order not to lose the status of a supplier. This scheme was called “shlagbaum”.
To implement the scheme, the head of the organization involved the former deputy head of the State Property Fund, who later became an advisor to the Minister of Energy, as well as a former law enforcement officer who held the position of executive director for physical protection of “Energoatom”. Using their official connections, they controlled personnel decisions, procurement processes, and financial flows in the company.
The actual management of a strategic enterprise with an annual revenue of over UAH 200 billion was not carried out by official officials, but by outsiders without formal authority, who acted as “watchers.”
The function of legalizing illegally obtained funds was concentrated in a separate office of the organization located in the center of Kyiv. The premises belonged to the family of former MP and current senator of the Russian Federation Andriy Derkach, who is involved in another criminal case of the NABU and the SAPO.
This office carried out strict accounting of money, kept “black accounting,” and laundered money through a network of non-resident companies. A significant part of the operations, including cash withdrawals, took place outside Ukraine. For its “services” in money laundering, the office received a commission as a percentage of the volume of transactions. In total, the movement of funds in the amount of about 100 million US dollars was recorded through the so-called “laundry”.
The operation to document the activities of the criminal group lasted for more than 15 months – since the summer of 2024. During this time, detectives collected a large amount of evidence and thousands of hours of audio recordings, which are currently being analyzed by NABU and SAPO.
Almost the entire staff of the bureau’s detectives was involved in the final stage of the operation. By court decision, more than 70 searches were conducted in Kyiv and the regions, documents and significant amounts of cash were seized. NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors continue to identify other members of the organization. The investigation is ongoing.
