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(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian Justice Minister German Galushchenko was suspended from his post amid a corruption investigation into the country’s energy sector, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said.
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The country’s two anti-graft agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, or NABU, and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, or SAPO, announced on Monday that they had detained five people as part of the probe into “large-scale” graft.
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Investigators said that a scheme aimed to siphon money from the energy sector, including funds earmarked for new defenses to shield power facilities from Russia’s ongoing attacks. The operation, which involved officials from state nuclear company Energoatom, saw the laundering of as much as $100 million, they said.
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The scandal bolsters concerns that corruption is undercutting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russia’s full-scale invasion, currently well into its fourth year.
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Ukraine’s power infrastructure, for which Galushchenko was responsible as energy minister until a reshuffle in July, is a particular target for Moscow. Russian forces have launched near-nightly attacks on energy infrastructure in a bid to knock out the country’s electricity supply.
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The minister’s suspension comes after an attempt to throttle NABU and SAPO earlier this year sparked mass street protests. That unrest forced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to restore the independence of the two anti-corruption bureaus, which were created on the insistence of international donors a decade ago.
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Galushchenko said in a Facebook post after his removal that he had spoken to the premier and agreed that his suspension was the correct move as the investigation proceeds. He added that he would defend himself legally.
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Zelenskiy’s former business partner and friend Timur Mindich was also accused of being part of the scheme, a special anti-corruption prosecutor told a court hearing Tuesday. Mindich controlled cash flows in Ukraine’s energy sector and exercised influence over Galushchenko and then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, the prosecutor said. Umerov denied the accusation.
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Mindich fled the country hours before anti-graft agencies announced the probe, Ukrainian media reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Separately, detectives announced that a former deputy prime minister, Oleksiy Chernyshov, was also involved in the corruption scheme. They identified him as “Che Guevara” and said in posts on Telegram that they had evidence showing members of a criminal group transfered $1.2 million and nearly 100,000 euros in cash to the politician. A notice of suspicion of illicit enrichment has been served, the investigating bodies said.
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