Copyright The Boston Globe
Instead of backing off under pressure from Zelensky, the anticorruption agencies seem to be doubling down on their scrutiny of the country’s leaders. In their investigation into the state-owned electricity provider, the agencies said they had compiled 1,000 hours of audio recordings over 15 months and had documented “the activities of a high-level criminal organization.” The agencies did not name those they were accusing of crimes. But in a YouTube video, the agencies said members of the criminal organization included a former adviser to the minister of energy, the executive director for physical protection and security at Energoatom, four members of a team responsible for money laundering, and “a businessman well known in the media” whom they accused of leading the illicit enterprise. Members of the organization had “built a large-scale corruption scheme to influence strategic state-sector enterprises,” in particular Energoatom, the government-owned nuclear company, the agencies said in a news release. Oleksandr Abakumov, a top anticorruption detective, said in a video that the agencies had performed more than 70 searches in the investigation, which they are calling “Midas.” The agencies said they had uncovered money laundering and illicit enrichment. They added that contractors were pressured for kickbacks of up to 15 percent. The announcement came as Ukraine struggled to recover from a serious attack on its power grid. Early Saturday, Russian missiles and drones targeted the country’s energy and gas infrastructure, hitting at least 25 locations, including nuclear power substations. On Monday, Zelensky announced negotiations with Ukraine’s European backers for more funding and equipment for his country’s energy system. In a speech Monday night, he said anyone engaged in corruption should be convicted, and that the government should work together with anticorruption and law-enforcement agencies, “and do it in a way that delivers real results.” Energoatom said it was fully cooperating with the investigation. Svitlana Hrynchuk, the country’s energy minister, said the ministry had “zero tolerance for corruption.” She added, “If guilt is proven, everyone must be held accountable.” The news release by the anticorruption agencies, and the slickly produced videos that followed, showed they were continuing to dig into suspected schemes after Zelensky reversed his legislative efforts to neuter the agencies in July. He backed down after young Ukrainians took to the streets, saying the country’s democracy must be protected. The anticorruption agencies said a recording released Monday was of government officials and businesspeople on July 9 discussing the embezzlement of funds that were intended to protect the energy sector from shelling. It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the recording or to know for certain who was talking and what their words meant. The head of Energoatom resigned in August under unclear circumstances. Last week, the anticorruption agencies arrested a top official of an Energoatom subsidiary on bribery allegations. A recent report by an independent Ukrainian think tank that focuses on energy said the government had rapidly expanded its control of the energy sector after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. “This shift has not reduced corruption; in many cases, corrupt practices have persisted or worsened,” said the think tank, the Ukraine Facility Platform, which reported in July for the European Union. When Zelensky moved to cripple the anticorruption agencies, they had been investigating members of his inner circle, according to anticorruption activists. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov was charged with corruption in June. And business owner Timur Mindich, who is half-owner of a television studio started by Zelenskyy, is the subject of a large-scale investigation, according to the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda. An anticorruption investigator who was arrested in July on what his supporters call politically motivated charges had been involved in the investigation into Mindich, said Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an opposition member of parliament. Zhelezniak said he had gathered material showing corruption in Energoatom and had given it to the anticorruption agencies. He said some of it had been folded into the investigation announced Monday, adding that he thought this was one of the biggest corruption scandals ever uncovered in Ukraine. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau raided the home of Mindich Monday, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Hours before, Mindich fled the country, it said. These developments could not be independently confirmed. Another newspaper, The Kyiv Independent, reported in August that the anticorruption agency was examining ties between Mindich and a weapons manufacturer, Fire Point. The company has denied business ties to Mindich.
