A former deputy energy minister of Ukraine was arrested for embezzling money from Energoatom.
As part of an anti-corruption probe targeting figures closely associated with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian law enforcement has apprehended an unnamed government employee.
Today, the Ukrainian government took into custody a previous deputy energy minister, suspected of misappropriating finances from the state-run atomic energy enterprise.
The action unfolds amidst a broader anti-corruption inquiry which has involved individuals within President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s close circle, suspected of illicitly transferring roughly $100 million from Energoatom, the state-owned energy provider.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) withheld the name of the individual taken into custody, but communicated via a formal statement that he maintained his governmental role until July and previously occupied a high-ranking position at Energoatom.
“He orchestrated a criminal plot to misappropriate funds from the Ukrainian national treasury,” the SBU articulated, accusing the individual of artificially inflating the value of atomic damage insurance arrangements.
The surplus capital was then purportedly routed to “sham businesses under the control of the official.”
Ruslan Kravchenko, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, conveyed via Telegram that authorities had identified monies channeled through shell corporations in Cyprus and a Russian holdings entity.
“This represents a standard methodology for obfuscating true beneficiaries utilizing offshore jurisdictions and shell corporations,” Kravchenko stated. “And in a contested situation, any covert affiliations to Russian assets in regions of strategic importance are especially perilous.”
The detainment materialized amid a 15-month examination by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), known as “Midas.” The analysis exposed “covert managers” who reportedly pressured contractors into remitting kickbacks amounting to 10-15 percent.
Last week, Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak stepped down amid a review by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. The review also casts a shadow on Timur Mindych, the purported mastermind of the graft operation, who was a co-owner of a motion picture firm preceding Zelenskyy’s introduction to politics.
Zelensky addressed the controversy in a discourse on November 10, demanding “penal sentences” for those complicit in wrongdoing.
