Version 1: Thu, Dec 18, 2025
Image released by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) on
November 10, 2025 in connection with its probe of Energoatom -
sott.net
Notice the labels include ‘ATLANTA’, ‘KAN CITY’, and ‘MINN’, that may
refer to Federal Reserve Bank locations.
On Monday, November 10 Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau
(NABU) began searching the homes of several senior government officials
and well known business people, including Timur Mindich, lon time friend
and business associate of Prresident Zelensky.
A selection of quotes about the case. Added emphasis.
(A) Zelensky and NABU
Russia Today (RT 2025)
In July 2025, Zelensky moved to strip both NABU and SAP of their
independence, pushing to place them under a loyal Prosecutor General. At
that same moment - as is now known for certain - NABU was conducting
secret surveillance against his longtime friend Timur Mindich.
Konstantin Skorkin on Carnegie (Skorkin
2025)
About six months ago, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted
a large-scale operation against investigators from the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), an independent bureau
established in 2015 on Western recommendations to combat corruption in
the upper echelons of power without having to defer to traditional law
enforcement agencies, which were often implicated in high-profile
investigations.
The justification given for the SBU operation was that NABU
investigators were collaborating with fugitive pro-Russian politicians
and the Kremlin. “The anti-corruption infrastructure will work, only
without Russian influence—it needs to be cleared of that,” Zelensky said
at the time. Parliament swiftly voted to limit the powers of NABU and
affiliated organizations. …
… Things did not go to plan, however. The EU’s reaction was extremely
negative, and Kyiv and other major cities saw their first street
protests—supported by local mayors—since the start of the full-scale
war. The president’s team was forced to back down, but the damage was
done.
Zelensky’s reputation in Europe suffered a major blow amid a wave of
Western publications about Ukrainian corruption. Relations between the
presidential administration and Zelensky’s Servant of the People party
also deteriorated, with parliamentary deputies forced to vote for two
contradictory resolutions. A significant part of Ukrainian society was
unconvinced by the accusations that NABU detectives were working for
Russia, and the whole episode was perceived as an attempt to protect the
president’s inner circle from being investigated.
A photo of a golden toilet said to be from one of the bathrooms in
the apartment of Zelenskyy’s former business partner Timur Mindich © Via
Telegram/social media - Source: Financial Times
Comment: For citizens of countries that have helped Ukraine
financially it may be of some consolation that the toilets are probably
only gold-plated.
(B) The Graft Scheme
Russia Today (RT 2025)
The most detailed part of the scheme involves Energoatom, Ukraine’s
state nuclear operator. This company provides more than half of
the country’s electricity - a lifeline during wartime blackouts. To
shield the grid during the war, Ukrainian law introduced a special rule:
courts are forbidden from enforcing debts against Energoatom until
hostilities end. In practice, this meant that Energoatom paid
contractors only after work was completed, but contractors could not sue
the company to recover overdue payments, and therefore had no legal
leverage if Energoatom simply refused to pay.
Mindich and his circle saw an opening - and turned it into a
business.
According to prosecutors, Mindich (listed on recordings as “Karlson”)
and his associates approached contractors with a simple proposition: Pay
us 10-15% of your contract value - or you will not be paid at all.
If a company refused, its payments were blocked indefinitely. Some
contractors were told outright that their firms would be destroyed,
bankrupted, or stripped of their contracts. In several cases, threats
escalated to warnings that company employees might be “mobilized” to the
front.
Mindich and his team jokingly called the scheme “the shlagbaum” - the
barrier. Pay, and the barrier lifts. Refuse, and your business
collapses.
Tarik Cyril Amar on Russia Today (Amar
2025)
The gist of the mega-scandal is simple: a network of businessmen
(really, gangsters) and politicians (really, gangsters) has used illegal
control over Energoatom contracts to fleece anyone who wanted or had to
do business with the strategically placed enterprise. As Ukrainian
prosecutors have explained, the power of this Energoatom mafia permeated
the company, ensuring “control over personnel decisions, procurement
processes, and financial flows.” In fact, the management of a strategic
enterprise … was carried out not by state officials, but by third
parties who had no formal authority, [but] took on the role of
‘overseers’ or ‘shadow managers.’
None of this would have been possible without very close proximity to
Zelensky and his fixer Andrey Yermak. The main capo of the Energoatom
mafia was Timur Mindich (gangster nickname: “Karlson”), a close friend
and media business partner of the ex-comedian president.
He was not just any friend: Mindich was the one who introduced
Zelensky, then a mediocre - if profitably uninhibited - comedian and
small-time businessman from the provinces to Igor Kolomoisky, one of
Ukraine’s richest and most sleazy oligarchs.
(Meduza 2025)
The officials who ran the Energoatom scheme collected kickbacks of
10–15 percent from the company’s contracts. The payoffs we know about
total more than $100 million, making it the biggest corruption scandal
ever discovered in Ukraine (which is no stranger to large-scale graft).
Those responsible for fleecing Energoatom’s contractors exploited a
wartime moratorium on debt collection against the state company,
demanding bribes before paying for goods and services already delivered.
This profiteering bankrupted several suppliers. It also guided decisions
to build protective structures around Ukraine’s nuclear power plants,
even as millions endured prolonged power outages. To ordinary
Ukrainians, officials showed outrageous cynicism, treating these
conditions as a “routine opportunity for gain.”
(C) Finally
This was not the first time: Zelensky and associates were listed on
the Pandora
Papers that came out in October 2021. Russia’s ‘special military
operation’ started a few months later in February 2022 and very
conveniently for the Ukrainian President the whole matter was
forgotten.
One of the most vocal voices against Ukraine corruption is Andriy
Derkach who fearing for his life left and is currently living in Russia.
In 2024 he gave two interviews that are both available on the 21st
Century Wire site with:
The Derkach family owns property in Kieb that was used by the
Energoatom gang:
(Meduza 2025)
There’s even a Russian connection: the laundering scheme operated out
of an office in downtown Kyiv owned by the family of Andriy Derkach, the
former Verkhovna Rada member who fled to Russia in 2022 and later became
a senator there. Additionally, Derkach’s former assistant, Igor
Mironyuk, is a key suspect in NABU’s investigation.
(Skorkin 2025)
Adding to the scandal’s toxicity is the involvement of people
formerly associated with Andrei Derkach, the longtime head of Energoatom
who defected to the Kremlin and is now a member of Russia’s upper
chamber of parliament, the Federation Council. One of the defendants in
the current scandal is Igor Mironyuk, a former aide to Derkach, and the
“shadow office” at the heart of the corruption scheme was located in
premises owned by Derkach’s family.
We are not going to speculate because this is a evolving story, only
to comment that “All Is Fair in Love and War”.
In other news Zelensky chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has resigned.
Seems to me a desperate move to save a loosing game. Eventually we shall
find exactly what happened, but in the mean time war and negotiations
continue.
Notes and Resources
(Amar 2025) Ukraine corruption: Zelensky’s
Western masters had better start looking for a new puppet https://www.sott.net/article/502948-Ukraine-corruption-Zelenskys-Western-masters-had-better-start-looking-for-a-new-puppet
by Tarik Cyril Amar - RT - Fri, 14 Nov 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/z4NdB
(Derkach 2024a) Derkach Interview: New
Documents Connect Biden Corruption and Burisma Scandal in Ukraine https://21stcenturywire.com/2024/01/17/derkach-interview-new-documents-connect-biden-corruption-and-burisma-scandal-ukraine/
Former Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach talks with Italian-American
journalist Simona Mangiante - 21st Century Wire - Jan 17, 2024 - Archive
https://archive.ph/SCRpp
(Derkach 2024b) EXCLUSIVE: The Roots of
U.S. Corruption in Ukraine – Interview with Andriy Derkach https://21stcenturywire.com/2024/05/02/the-roots-of-u-s-corruption-in-ukraine-interview-with-andriy-derkach/
Former Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach talks with American independent
journalist Patrick Henningsen - 21st Century Wire - May 2, 2024 -
Archive https://archive.ph/qT81r
(Meduza 2025) Why hasn’t the biggest
corruption scandal of Zelensky’s presidency forced him into political or
diplomatic concessions? https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/11/26/why-hasn-t-the-biggest-corruption-scandal-of-zelensky-s-presidency-forced-him-into-political-or-diplomatic-concessions
Meduza - November 26, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/3afED
(PRM 2025) Operation Midas: NABU issues
suspicions to 7 people involved in corruption in the energy sector https://prm.ua/en/operation-midas-nabu-issues-suspicions-to-7-people-involved-in-corruption-in-the-energy-sector/
PRM - 11 November 2025 https://archive.ph/NiRdU
The organization laundered illegally obtained funds through an office
in the center of Kyiv, which belonged to the family of former MP, now
Senator of the Russian Federation Andriy Derkach. About 100 million US
dollars passed through the “laundry” , in particular through a network
of foreign companies and cash withdrawals abroad.
(RT 2025a) Zelensky associate and justice
minister raided by anti-graft agency https://www.sott.net/article/502881-Zelensky-associate-and-justice-minister-raided-by-anti-graft-agency
RT - 10 Nov 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/1TF2Z
(RT2025b) Ukraine’s ‘EnergyGate’ scandal
explained: Why it spells danger for Vladimir Zelensky https://www.sott.net/article/502979-Ukraines-EnergyGate-scandal-explained-Why-it-spells-danger-for-Vladimir-Zelensky
RT - 12 Nov 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/zgk6n
(RT 2025c) The scandal Zelensky can’t escape:
Inside Ukraine’s biggest corruption story https://www.sott.net/article/502981-The-scandal-Zelensky-cant-escape-Inside-Ukraines-biggest-corruption-story
RT 14 Nov 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/pBz9P
(Skorkin 2025) The Corruption Scandal
Engulfing Ukraine Won’t Die Down Anytime Soon: A corruption scandal
unprecedented in scale is rocking President Zelensky’s inner circle https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2025/11/ukraine-corruption-scandal?lang=en
By Konstantin Skorkin - Carnegie - November 18, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/bEorD
(UNN 2025) Money laundered through the office
of the Derkach family in the center of Kyiv: NABU revealed new details
of large-scale corruption in the energy sector https://unn.ua/en/news/money-laundered-through-the-office-of-the-derkach-family-in-the-center-of-kyiv-nabu-revealed-details-of-a-large-scale-corruption-scheme-in-the-energy-sector
UN - November 10 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/4V7L8
According to the Bureau, the premises of the office that was engaged
in money laundering belonged to the family of former MP and now Russian
senator Andriy Derkach, whom NABU and SAP are prosecuting in another
criminal case - treason.
(Voltaire Network 2025) Operation Midas
exposes the corruption of the Ukrainian ruling class https://www.voltairenet.org/article223165.html Voltaire
Network - Nov 14, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/5VhvG
Earlier posts:
Started: Tue, November 25, 2025
About
Metagora
