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Ukrainian opposition holds up parliament, rejects scapegoat dismissals in corruption case

The deputies were supposed to consider the dismissal of Justice Minister German Galushchenko, and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk in connection with a corruption scandal

MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Former President of Ukraine and leader of the European Solidarity party Pyotr Poroshenko (listed by Rosfinmonitoring as involved in extremist activities or terrorism) and his supporters have blocked the rostrum of the Rada, demanding that the government resign, as broadcast by the Rada TV channel.

The deputies were supposed to consider the dismissal of Justice Minister German Galushchenko, and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk in connection with a corruption scandal.

Poroshenko said that 51 signatures out of the necessary 150 have already been collected for the resignation of the entire government. He also said that European Solidarity would vote against the resignation of Galushchenko and Grinchuk because they believe that these two are being used as "sacrificial lambs" to close the corruption case.

On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) held a large-scale operation called Midas to uncover a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. The offices of businessman Timur Mindich, Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who has now been dismissed from office, and the Energoatom company were searched. According to the investigation, the participants of the criminal scheme laundered at least $100 million. On the same day, NABU began publishing fragments of recordings of conversations in Mindich's apartment, in which corruption schemes were discussed. There are 1,000 hours of audio recordings in total.

On November 11, NABU filed the first charges, including Mindich as the head of a criminal organization, as well as former Deputy Prime Minister and ex-Minister of National Unity Alexey Chernyshov, who remains chummy with Zelensky. On the same day, the government prematurely terminated the powers of the supervisory board of Energoatom, and on November 12, the Verkhovna Rada received resignation letters from Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk. Mindich, who is called Zelensky's friend and "wallet," left Ukraine a few hours before the searches to Israel.

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