The Verkhovna Rada has made the decision to dismiss Herman Halushchenko from the position of Minister of Justice. The relevant resolution was signed by the Speaker of Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, and 323 members of parliament voted for the dismissal.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Circumstances of the Vote and Government Position
Before the vote, the deputies insisted that Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and ministers Herman Halushchenko and Svitlana Hrynchuk report to parliament. However, the Prime Minister did not appear; instead, the draft resolution regarding the dismissal of both officials was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka. Halushchenko and Hrynchuk were also absent from the parliamentary session.
Earlier, commenting on his suspension, Herman Halushchenko emphasized:
“I am not holding on to the position of minister” and believes that “suspension during the investigation is a civilized and correct scenario.”
Context of the Dismissal: Corruption Investigation and Parliamentary Demands
The dismissal occurred against the backdrop of a large-scale investigation into corruption in the energy sector. On November 17, the opposition parties “Holos” and “European Solidarity” called for the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers and the formation of a new parliamentary coalition.
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine reported the uncovering of a criminal organization that received systematic bribes from contractors of the company “Energoatom” amounting to 10-15% of the contract value. According to the investigation, approximately 100 million dollars were laundered through a back office in central Kyiv. This premises, according to law enforcement, is linked to the family of former people’s deputy and now senator of the Russian Federation Andriy Derkach, who is also suspected in criminal proceedings by NABU and SAP.
The case involves former Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko, former business partner of Volodymyr Zelensky from “Kvartal 95” Timur Mindich, who has left Ukraine, and former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov. NABU has announced suspicions against eight individuals, five of whom have already been detained.
NABU detective Oleksandr Abakumov reported on a television program that during the investigation, the involvement of four ministers from various periods of the Cabinet was recorded, although these are not all current ministers.
In a few days, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the submission to parliament regarding the dismissal of Herman Halushchenko and Minister of Energy Svitlana Hrynchuk.