Copyright The New York Times
The main anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine announced on Monday that they had uncovered a major corruption scheme in which contractors of the state-owned nuclear energy company had been forced to pay hefty kickbacks. The inquiry was announced by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor — agencies that President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to defang in July after they had investigated his close associates. Mr. Zelensky, who was elected president in 2019, entered politics pledging to root out the graft that has long plagued Ukraine. But allegations of insider deals and corruption have continued during his administration, particularly in the energy sector. Instead of backing off under pressure from Mr. Zelensky, the anti-corruption 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.” 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 anti-corruption detective, said in a video on social media that the agencies had performed more than 70 searches in the investigation, which they are calling “Midas.” The agencies said they had uncovered corruption that included money laundering and illicit enrichment. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
