Volodymyr Zelenskyy — the Ukrainian leader who suspended elections, dissolved rival parties, sanctioned a political opponent on suspicion of “high treason,” consolidated Ukraine’s media outlets, banned a Christian denomination, and remains president despite his term officially ending 18 months ago — rose to power on a pledge to give Ukrainians “a life without corruption, without bribes.”
Zelenskyy’s hold on power, however, now appears uncertain, as it is threatened by a historic corruption scandal that has swept up some of his closest allies.
Zelenskyy, allies prove unable to hinder probe
Earlier this year, the Ukrainian president and his closest aides attempted to neutralize the independent anti-corruption agencies that were scrutinizing Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
In July, Zelenskyy’s party pushed through legislation stripping Ukraine’s National Anticorruption Bureau of its independence and giving the prosecutor general, a Zelenskyy appointee, oversight. This took place the day after the State Bureau of Investigation — which is helmed by a Zelenskyy loyalist — arrested NABU officials and conducted numerous raids of corruption fighters’ homes.
‘Zelensky faces a day of reckoning.’
The director of the anti-corruption bureau, Semen Kryvonos, indicated at the time that “this pressure campaign is a direct response to the effectiveness of our investigations, including those targeting high-ranking officials and members of Parliament.”
Photo by TETIANA DZHAFAROVA/AFP via Getty Images
The Financial Times indicated that in the face of mass protests and outrage from Ukraine’s Western partners, Zelenskyy and his allies ultimately had to abandon their efforts to torpedo the 15-month investigation.
Zelenskyy desperately condemns his close allies
Despite the obstacles erected by the regime, the anti-corruption investigation conducted by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office exposed an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in which Zelenskyy officials and business figures allegedly conspired to force suppliers to Ukraine’s nuclear power company, Energoatom, to pay kickbacks valued at 10%-15% of each contract’s value.
In their searches of suspects’ residences, law enforcement reportedly found duffel bags filled with cash and, in one case, a Kyiv apartment with a golden toilet.
Kryvonos indicated the funds allegedly pilfered as part of the scheme have largely been dispersed through a number of foreign nations and used to purchase property and other assets, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The Ukrainian president — who was “floored” by the scale of the charges made against members of his ruling clique, sources in the government told the Economist — has done his apparent best to distance himself from those named in the criminal corruption probe, which has been dubbed Operation Midas.
For instance, Zelenskyy, who was not named in the corruption probe, imposed sanctions last week on one of his closest associates and former business partner, Timur Mindich.
Mindich, who fled to Israel just prior to NABU’s Nov. 10 raids, has been charged with allegedly managing a criminal organization that laundered millions of dollars.
Mindich is reportedly a close business associate of Israeli-Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky, a backer of Zelenskyy’s presidential campaign who was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine in 2023 on fraud and money-laundering charges, and a relative of Leonid Mindich, who was arrested by Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities earlier this year on charges of embezzling $16 million from an electric power company.
Zelenskyy also asked his ministers of justice and energy — German Halushchenko and Svitlana Grynchuk — to resign last week, stating, “This is also a matter of trust. If there are accusations, they must be addressed. The decision to dismiss them from office is prompt and necessary.”
Grynchuk said in a Facebook post, “There have been no violations of the law in the course of my personal activities.”
Halushchenko, who served as energy minister until his dismissal in July and was removed as justice minister on Nov. 12, has indicated that he will defend himself against the accusations.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Timur Mindich allegedly built connections with Halushchenko through his relationship with Zelenskyy and then exerted influence over both the ex-justice minister and Rustem Umerov, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council and ex-defense minister.
Although Umerov is presently in the U.S., Ukraine’s Center for Counter Disinformation indicated he is planning to return to Ukraine despite reports that he was hoping to stay abroad to avoid charges.
Other suspects tied to the alleged kickback scheme reportedly include:
Ihor Myroniuk, an ex-adviser to Halushchenko and former deputy head of the State Property Fund whose lawyer claims he was not a member of a criminal organization;former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, a close Zelenskyy ally who was removed from his position in July after being charged with bribery and abuse of office, then arrested on Tuesday on charges of illicit enrichment in connection with the alleged kickback scheme;Serhiy Pushkar, a current member of the National Energy Commission;Oleksandr Tsukerman, a Ukrainian businessman accused of running the money laundering back office in the scheme, who reportedly left Ukraine for Israel and denies wrongdoing; andDmytro Basov, former head of the Energoatom security department, who also denied any wrongdoing.
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director at the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Kyiv, told France 24 on Monday that the investigation is far from over and that Zelenskyy has to look very closely into his closest inner circle, starting with his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who Kaleniuk claimed is wielding unconstitutional powers in the country and is at the heart of the problem.
“If there will be more attempts from Zelenskyy to attack anti-corruption bodies like there was attempt[ed] in summer, there would be also for me the clear signal that Volodomyr Zelenskyy didn’t learn his lesson,” added Kaleniuk.
Sources close to the anti-corruption bodies made clear to the Economist that the investigation’s next phase may focus on corruption in the defense sector, which may prompt greater demands for a full reset of the Ukrainian government.
“Zelenskyy faces a day of reckoning,” a senior official told the Economist. “The choice isn’t great. Either he amputates a leg, or he gets an infection going through the whole body and dies.”
“I think that right now, both society and the political class understand that a political crisis would be too dangerous,” Volodymyr Fesenko, a political scientist based in Kyiv, told the Financial Times. “A lot depends on the next steps of the investigation, if new information comes out that involves Zelenskyy or the office of the president … then of course, it’ll be a new round.”
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Zelenskyy, Zelensky, Corruption, Volodomyr, Ukraine, Corrupt, Kyiv, Kiev, Oligarch, Israel, Poltics
