Semen Kryvonos, the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, stated that he does not wish to politicize the pre-trial investigation into the corruption case involving the state company ‘Energoatom’. His position was expressed in response to a question about the possibility of questioning President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky within the framework of this criminal proceeding.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Investigation of high-level corruption in ‘Energoatom’
Kryvonos emphasized that the head of state has immunity from criminal liability under current legislation. At the same time, he assured that all necessary investigative actions regarding individuals subject to the jurisdiction of the pre-trial investigation authorities will be carried out in accordance with the law.
“Therefore, I will refrain from this question. The NABU detectives will decide. Let’s put it this way, all those against whom relevant investigative actions can be carried out, according to the law – they will be conducted.”
Details of the corruption case and suspects
On November 10, NABU announced the exposure of a criminal organization whose members systematically received illegal benefits from ‘Energoatom’ contractors. According to the investigation, the size of the bribes ranged from 10% to 15% of the contract amounts.
In this case, suspicion has been announced against eight individuals. Among them are businessman and co-founder of ‘Kvartal-95’ Timur Mindich (referred to in NABU recordings by the code name ‘Karlson’), former advisor to the Minister of Energy Igor Mironyuk (‘Rocket’), Executive Director for Security of ‘Energoatom’ Dmytro Basov (‘Tenor’), as well as four employees of the so-called ‘back office for money laundering’: Oleksandr Tsukerman (‘Sugar Man’), Igor Fursenko (‘Ryoshik’), Lesya Ustimenko, and Lyudmila Zorina. Subsequently, suspicion of illegal enrichment was also presented to former Deputy Prime Minister for National Unity Oleksiy Chernyshov.
Chernyshov’s lawyers deny his involvement in the conversations mentioned in the NABU materials, emphasizing that the person with the code name ‘Che Guevara’ is not their client. According to the defenders, Chernyshov did not participate in the communication referenced in the case.
After the exposure of the corruption scheme, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the start of a “comprehensive cleansing and renewal” of the management system in Ukraine’s energy sector.