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Zelensky Imposes Sanctions on Ex-Associate as Energy Graft Probe Topples Two Ministers

A 15-month NABU/SAPO probe into an alleged $100 million Energoatom kickback ring has already produced arrests plus suspensions.

Overview

  • Zelensky signed a decree freezing assets and revoking state honors for Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman, who are believed to have left Ukraine.
  • Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk resigned at the president’s request as the case widened.
  • The High Anti-Corruption Court detained several suspects, including Dmytro Basov, Ihor Myroniuk, Ihor Fursenko and Lesia Ustimenko, with high bail amounts set after five arrests were announced.
  • The Cabinet suspended Energoatom vice president and board member Yakob Khartmut, ordered the suspension of additional managers, and launched urgent audits based on NABU files.
  • Investigators cite roughly 1,000 hours of wiretaps and describe a scheme extracting 10–15% kickbacks from contractors and laundering proceeds through a Kyiv “back office,” with prosecutors naming Mindich as the alleged ringleader.