Sawt Falasteen - Close Zelensky ally accused of orchestrating major graft scheme

The accusations against Timur Mindich are the latest episode in a sweeping corruption scandal involving claims of massive embezzlement from the energy sector, even as the country's infrastructure is battered by Russian attacks.

Mindich co-owns the media production company Kvartal 95, founded by Zelensky, who was a star comedian before running for office.

"Mindich exercised control over the accumulation, distribution, and legalisation of money obtained through criminal means in the energy sector of Ukraine," a prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said.

The suspect used "friendly relations with the president of Ukraine" in his criminal activity, the prosecutor added during a pre-trial hearing for another man accused of involvement in the scheme.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said Monday it had uncovered a graft scheme in the energy sector involving $100 million of laundered funds.

"Detectives have detained five individuals and notified seven members of the organisation of suspicion," NABU said in a statement later on Tuesday, meaning charges were brought against the seven.

Among them was "a businessman -- the head of the criminal organisation", the bureau added, without naming him -- an apparent reference to Mindich, who was earlier identified by the prosecutors as the mastermind of the scheme.

SAPO also accused Justice Minister German Galushchenko, previously an energy minister for four years, of receiving "personal benefits" from Mindich in exchange for control over the money flows in the energy sector.

Ukraine's justice ministry said Galushchenko was cooperating with the investigators and that he would refrain from further comments.

AFP reached out to Kvartal 95 outside of business hours for Mindich's reaction to accusations, but received no immediate response.

NABU carried out mass raids following a 15-month investigation into the energy sector, which has been under regular attack since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The head of NABU's investigating team Oleksandr Abakumov told Ukrainian state TV that Mindich had left the country shortly before the raids.

- Energy under attack -

Accusations of embezzlement from the energy industry at a time of relentless attacks and widespread power shortages have stoked fresh public anger.

Moscow had escalated attacks on Ukraine's energy sector ahead of the war's fourth winter, by launching swarms of drones along with missiles.

They hit generation facilities as well as power transmission and distribution systems all at the same time, complicating the repair works.

After the raids on Monday, Zelensky said all actions against corruption were "very necessary", encouraging officials to cooperate with the anti-corruption bodies. He did not immediately comment on the charges against Mindich.

The Ukrainian government on Tuesday sacked the supervisory board of Energoatom, the state nuclear energy operator, which was a cornerstone of the graft scheme, according to the investigators. This, along with an urgent state-led audit, was described by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko as "the first decisions for the relaunch of 'Energoatom'".

Eradicating systemic corruption is one of the top requirements for Ukraine's application for EU membership and any hurdles to it might slow down the accession.

Zelensky faced a massive backlash from Ukrainians and Brussels over the summer when he tried to bring the two independent anti-corruption bodies, NABU and SAPO, under the government's control.

N.Shalabi--SF-PST