A former associate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Timur Mindich, who owns the influential Kvartal 95 television studio, which created the popular sitcom that launched Zelensky's comedy career, has been indicted in a massive $100 million embezzlement scandal involving the control of procurement at the nuclear agency Energoatom and other state enterprises.
Mindich got wind of his pending arrest and fled the country, perhaps to Israel, according to Politico.
Two high-ranking cabinet ministers, Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who was energy minister from 2021 to 2025, and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk have also been implicated in the scheme. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said "her government had taken measures to remove other Energoatom officials, including a vice-president, the finance and legal director and a senior procurement official," according to Reuters.
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) conducted a 15-month investigation that involved 1,000 hours of wiretapping and resulted in 70 raids, according to the Kyiv Independent. Seven people have been charged in the corruption scandal, dubbed "Operation Midas," so far.
NABU reported that the conspirators were collecting kickbacks from contractors, amounting to 10-15% of the contract value. The conspirators would then speed the process of approval through the byzantine Ukrainian bureaucracy. In effect, the conspirators were running the energy sector of Ukraine's economy.
"In fact, the management of a strategic enterprise with an annual revenue of over Hr 200 billion ($4.7 billion) was carried out not by officials, but by outsiders who had no formal authority," the NABU said in a statement.
This is a nation that Ukraine boosters in the U.S. and Europe want to invite to join NATO and the European Union? Last year, Zelensky tried to undermine NABU and other anti-corruption agencies by getting parliament to pass legislation making them answer to the state prosecutor, whom he appoints. The backlash resulted in the first street protests against his presidency, forcing him to retreat.
The liberal Guardian calls the scandal "a major political crisis for the president." Indeed, there is talk that Zelensky may be forced to resign.
For Europe, the scandal comes just days after the European Commission’s report warning that Ukraine had made “only limited progress” on fighting corruption and had exerted pressure on NABU and SAPO.
La Repubblica warned that the case “could jeopardise” the €140 billion reparations-loan plan based on frozen Russian assets and complicate accession talks. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas was blunt: “Corrupt individuals have stolen money that was supposed to help the military… this undermines trust.”
Germany, a major supporter of Ukraine’s energy system, said it was “concerned” by the allegations and is monitoring the case closely.
Support will hold because Ukraine’s stability is a strategic necessity. But conditionality will tighten. The G7 is helping form a new supervisory board for Energoatom. A full audit is being prepared. Ukraine can expect tougher benchmarks on governance and stricter oversight of any future frozen-asset financing.
It's still important to Europe's immediate interests to keep Ukraine in the fight. Donald Trump's efforts to bring about a ceasefire appear stalled, largely because Russian President Vladimir Putin believes he is winning the war and that Ukraine may sue for peace.
Scandals like this sap the people's will to resist. Zelensky has promised reforms, but in the past his fiddling with corruption at the margins has not satisfied the people.
This is an existential crisis that Zelensky must address decisively if he is to survive.
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