MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Detectives from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) have entered a new phase in their investigation into a large-scale corruption scandal in the energy sector and must "see this through," the agency’s chief Semyon Krivonos said.
"We have moved from the private stage, where we only gathered evidence of criminal activities but could not make requests, <...> to the public stage, which involves a financial and asset-focused probe," he said in a live broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Ukrainskaya Pravda media outlet.
According to Krivonos, through searches, the agency has seized hundreds of digital devices and numerous documents, particularly from energy companies. Now, NABU must "see this through" to show the Ukrainian public "how much money was stolen and how much was spent on luxury villas in Switzerland, apartments, other assets, or transferred to bank accounts."
Earlier reports indicated that NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are conducting searches at the residence and office of Andrey Yermak, Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff. Financial Times correspondent in Kiev Christopher Miller said the searches are part of Operation Midas.
On November 10, NABU and SAPO announced Operation Midas to uncover a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. Timur Mindich, a businessman and Zelensky’s friend, was dubbed the coordinator of the criminal scheme. The offices of Mindich, Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who has now been dismissed from office, and the Energoatom company were searched. According to investigators, those involved in 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, a close ally of Zelensky. Mindich, often described as Zelensky's "wallet," left Ukraine hours before the searches and is now in Israel. On November 17, reports indicated that Andrey Yermak might appear in the Mindich case files under the pseudonym Ali Baba.