«They knew about the trash that was going on and did nothing»: NABU director says all security forces were aware of schemes in the energy sector

Semen Kryvonos, head of the NABU, speaking at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting forum in Kyiv on 14 November. Photo: NikVesti

The head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Semen Kryvonos, said that all law enforcement agencies had information about corruption schemes operating at «Energoatom», but left it unreacted to.

He said this during the forum of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, which took place in Kyiv on 14 November, a correspondent of NikVesti reports.

The head of the NABU called the actions of the defendants in the case «trash» and stressed that everyone knew about it. At the same time, he admitted that if the case develops positively after this exposure, it could be a signal to law enforcement not to keep silent about corruption.

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«I can say with absolute authority that every law enforcement agency operating in Ukraine had some information about the trash that was going on. And none of them did anything about it. I sincerely believe that now everyone will have an opinion: «If I identify and keep silent, what will happen next?». I think this will lead to changes. I am an optimist,» said Semen Kryvonos.

As a reminder, the Head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Klymenko, said that meetings are being held in Ukraine to instruct law enforcement agencies to prosecute NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors.

«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 the NABU and the 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.

In the published fourth part of the investigation, the NABU found that 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. Later it became known that it was former Minister of National Unity Oleksii Chernyshov. He was notified of being suspected of illicit enrichment.

Later, «Schemes» (Radio Liberty) named the names of all those who had been notified of suspicion by NABU as part of a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector. Among them was not the name of Herman Halushchenko. However, only on 12 November did it become known that Halushchenko had been removed from office following an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into corruption schemes at NNEGC «Energoatom».

Commenting on the situation, «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.