Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency on Monday accused former energy minister German Galushchenko of laundering millions of dollars in kickbacks, a day after authorities detained him whilst attempting to leave the country.
Galushchenko, who served as energy minister from 2021 to 2025 before briefly holding the justice portfolio until his resignation over the scandal last year, has become one of the most senior officials caught up in the “Midas” case—an alleged $100 million kickback scheme at state nuclear company Energoatom.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said Galushchenko “was exposed for money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation”, according to a NABU statement.
Investigators said more than $7 million had been transferred to foreign accounts naming Galushchenko’s wife and four children as beneficiaries. Some funds paid for the children’s education at elite schools in Switzerland, whilst other money was placed in “a deposit, from which the family of the high-ranking official received additional income and spent it on their own needs”, NABU said.
Galushchenko has denied wrongdoing. Reuters was unable to reach him for comment or locate a lawyer representing him.
NABU said on Sunday that he was detained “whilst crossing the state border”, without specifying the arrest location.
Senior officials ensnared
The sprawling case has ensnared senior officials and members of Ukraine’s business elite, including a former close associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy from his pre-political media career, raising concerns amongst Kyiv’s Western allies.
Prosecutors say participants in the Midas scheme extorted bribes from Energoatom contractors in exchange for completing projects, including structures designed to protect energy facilities from Russian air strikes.
Authorities have previously said the plot was organised by former Zelenskiy associate Timur Mindich, who fled to Israel before he could be arrested in November. Mindich, who founded the television studio behind the hit sitcom that brought Zelenskiy fame as an actor before he entered politics, has denied wrongdoing.
A former deputy prime minister was arrested in November, and NABU has said other former senior officials remain under investigation.
Political fallout
The case sparked a political scandal last year that led to the ousting of Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and fuelled public anger over lingering corruption as Ukraine fights Russia in its four-year war.
Zelenskiy attempted to limit the independence of the anti-corruption agencies last year before reversing course in the face of public protests and pressure from Western allies.
Energoatom chief executive Pavlo Kovtonenko told Reuters last week that the company had taken a number of steps to prevent the recurrence of corruption schemes in future.
Battling corruption remains a key priority in Ukraine’s reform effort as it pursues membership of the European Union, which requires the country to shake off the decades-old scourge of graft.
(Reuters)
