Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree Thursday imposing sanctions against two individuals reportedly involved in an $100 million corruption probe into the country's energy sector.
Published on the website of Ukraine’s presidency, the decree imposed sanctions on Timur Mindich, a businessman and co-owner of the Kvartal 95 production company, and Oleksandr Tsukerman, both are reported to be involved in an energy corruption probe launched by Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies earlier this week.
Zelenskyy is one of three individuals who founded the production company based in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in 2003.
The decree was signed a day after Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who served as energy minister between April 2021 and July, submitted letters of resignation, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who also suspended the deputy head of national nuclear energy provider Energoatom.
The two ministers submitted their resignations after Zelenskyy urged Svyrydenko in an evening video address to ensure both ministers did so, arguing they “cannot remain in office” amid the probe.
"I will sign a decree to impose sanctions on two individuals implicated in the NABU case concerning Energoatom," he added. Mindich and Tsukerman are noted in the presidential decree as Israeli nationals.
Ukraine launched a "large-scale operation" Monday into the energy sector to uncover graft involving what the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) described as a "high-level criminal organization" seeking to influence strategic state enterprises, particularly Energoatom, which operates the country's four nuclear power plants.
NABU said its investigation involved 15 months of work and 1,000 hours of audio recordings. Members of the “criminal organization” allegedly demanded illegal benefits to the tune of 10% - 15% of a state contract value.
“Using official connections in the (energy) ministry and the state-owned company, they ensured control over personnel decisions, procurement processes, and the movement of financial flows,” it said, adding that about $100 million had passed through the scheme.
It was noted Tuesday that five people were detained and seven notified of suspicion, including a businessman who led Energoatom and a former advisor to Ukraine’s energy minister, while more than 70 searches were conducted.
On the day of the investigation's launch, Ukraine’s state news agency, Ukrinform, citing a source, reported that Mindich and Halushchenko’s homes were searched as part of the probe.
Meanwhile, an article Wednesday by the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported that Mindich left the country for Poland more than four hours before his home was searched. The State Border Service confirmed that Mindich legally crossed the Ukrainian border, but did not specify which country he was going to.
The investigation comes four months after Zelenskyy reinstated the independence of the country’s two major anti-corruption agencies.
Zelenskyy had signed measures into law that brought NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the oversight of the prosecutor general. He reversed the measures, however, after major protests, including in Kyiv.
A crackdown on corruption is critical if Ukraine hopes to advance its application to join the 27-member European Union, which formally opened accession negotiations with Kyiv in June 2024.
Critics have said Kyiv has long suffered from widespread corruption, and the war with Russia is said to have overshadowed efforts to stamp out graft.
By Burc Eruygur
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
