On Thursday morning, Zelensky signed a regulation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on the introduction of special personal economic sanctions and other measures against two Israeli citizens, Tymur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman, the Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine reported. The relevant document has already been published by the office of the President of Ukraine.
Persons subject to sanctions will include, among others: deprived of state awards and their financial assets will be blocked for three years.
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What sanctions did Volodymyr Zelensky impose?
Who is subject to sanctions?
How much money was embezzled in the scandal?
Who is investigating Enerhoatom?
Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on his close associate
Both named Israeli citizens are included in the investigation conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in relation to corruption practices in Enerhoatom, the operator of Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The value of the embezzled funds is estimated at at least USD 100 million.
Mindicz is the co-founder of the Kvartal 95 studio and a former close associate of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Corruption scandal in the Ukrainian energy sector
On Tuesday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced that seven people are suspected and five people have been detained in a major corruption scandal in the national energy sector. NABU reported that it documented how members of a criminal organization transferred money to former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov.
According to the non-governmental organization Center for the Prevention of Corruption, Tymur Mindicz is among the businessmen who were charged. On Monday, the website Ukrainska Pravda reported that Mindicz left Ukraine a few hours before the search.
SAP prosecutors announced on Tuesday that Mindicz, the organizer of the entire operation, established contacts with the then Minister of Energy (until July 17 this year) and later Minister of Justice – Herman Hałushchenko. Through him, Mindicz was to exercise control over financial flows in the gas and energy sectors of Ukraine. Halushchenko allegedly used Mindicz's services to launder dirty money through a proxy advisor to the Minister of Energy, Ihor Myroniuk.
Those involved in the scandal were to systematically collect bribes from contractors of the state-owned operator of nuclear power plants, Enerhoatom, in the amount of 10%. up to 15 percent contract values. NABU and SAP published some of the audio recordings from the investigation into this matter. They reported that a large anti-corruption operation in the energy sector lasted 15 months and included 1,000 hours of audio recordings.
