We continue to work for our viewers, — statement of Kvartal 95 Studio in connection with the NABU investigation of their co-owner

The Kvartal 95 Studio has released an official statement in which it stressed that it continues to work and create content for viewers despite the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) investigation into one of its co-owners.

The appeal was posted on the Studio's official social media, according to NikVesti.

It states that the situation related to one of the owners, Tymur Mindich, has nothing to do with the company's activities, content or team.

«Currently, there is a lot of information in the public space related to one of the co-owners of the Kvartal 95 Studio, who has been in the spotlight. These events are not related to the work of the Studio, its content or team. The co-owner has a legal relationship with the Studio, but does not participate in its activities and does not influence the content or decisions of the team», the statement said.

Kvartal 95 Studio stressed that the brand is not one person, but a large team that has been producing audiovisual content for over 20 years.

Kvartal 95 is not just one person, but a brand and a large team that has existed for over 20 years and has been exclusively engaged in the production of audio-visual content. At different times, we have had different people by our side — actors, producers, authors, specialists in various fields. Please do not use the brand Kvartal 95 in speculative or politicised contexts», the statement reads.

They stressed that they would continue to work for the audience.

«The main thing remains the same: The studio is working in Ukraine, working on projects, supporting and helping the Ukrainian Defence Forces. We continue to work — for the audience, for the country, for life», the statement reads.

It should be noted that Kvartal 95 Studio is owned by three co-founders. The largest share — 50% — is held by Tymur Mindich, who contributed more than three million hryvnias to the charter capital. Serhii Shefir owns 37.5% of the company, with a contribution of over two million hryvnias. Andrii Yakovlev owns 12.5% of the share capital with a contribution of over 772 thousand hryvnias. All three are citizens of Ukraine and registered in Kyiv.

«Midas». Large-scale corruption in the energy sector

On the morning of 10 November, it became known that NABU detectives were conducting a search at the home of Tymur Mindich, a businessman and co-owner of the Kvartal 95 Studio. At the same time, as UP pointed out, Tymur Mindich left the territory of Ukraine on the same day — a few hours before the start of the investigation. According to the source, he «fled the country at night».

Later it became known that NABU and SAPO were conducting a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector. The bureau said the investigation lasted 15 months. More than 70 searches were conducted as part of the case, and investigators collected more than 1,000 hours of audio recordings. As part of the operation, they searched the offices of former Energy Minister and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and «Energoatom».

On the same day, the NABU and the SAPO published part of the audio recordings of conversations between the persons involved in the corruption scheme. The tapes released by the Bureau include officials with call signs «Tenor», «Rocket», «Carlson». According to «RBK-Ukraine», the tapes feature:

• Ihor Myroniuk — former advisor to the Minister of Energy (Rocket);
• Dmytro Basov — Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of «Energoatom», former employee of the Prosecutor General's Office (Tenor);
• Tymur Mindich — businessman, head of the organisation (Carlson);
• Herman Halushchenko, former Minister of Energy, now Minister of Justice (Professor).

It also became known that the defendants were involved in the legalisation of illegally obtained funds in an office in the centre of Kyiv. It belongs to the family of MP Andrii Derkach, who is now a politician in Russia.

The NABU found that the participants in the energy sector corruption scheme transferred funds to the former deputy prime minister, who was referred to in the documents and materials of the investigation as Che Guevara.

After these accusations, it turned out that Che Guevara was the former Minister of National Unity Oleksii Chernyshov. He was notified of being suspected of illicit enrichment.

It should be noted that the state-owned enterprise «Energoatom» stated that the large-scale corruption in the energy sector recently exposed by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine did not affect the stability of its operations.

However, former Minister of Economy Tymofii Mylovanov later announced his resignation from the Supervisory Board of NNEGC «Energoatom».