Corruption scandal in the Ukrainian energy sector. The government suspended the justice minister

The government of Ukraine has suspended Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko from his duties, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on Wednesday. Earlier, the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) reported that Halushchenko was connected with a corruption scandal in the Ukrainian energy sector.

“An extraordinary government meeting was held this morning. A decision was made to remove Herman Halushchenko from his duties as Minister of Justice,” Svyrydenko wrote in the Telegram messenger.

The Prime Minister noted that, in accordance with the government's decision, Halushchenko's duties will be taken over by Lyudmyla Suhak, Deputy Minister of Justice for European Integration.

Halushchenko announced that he would defend himself legally. “I completely agree: a political decision should be made, and only then should all the details be considered. I do not stick to the minister's position and I will not stick to it. I believe that suspension during the investigation is a civilized and rightful scenario,” he wrote on Facebook, without referring to the reasons for his suspension.

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, the businessmen who heard the charges include: Tymur Mindicz – businessman and co-owner of the production company Kvartal 95, as well as an associate of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. 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.

From Kiev Iryna Hirnyk (PAP)

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