In a significant shake-up within the Ukrainian government, two high-ranking officials have stepped down amid allegations of a $100 million kickback scheme involving the state-run nuclear energy company, Energoatom.
Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko announced on the social media platform X that Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk tendered their resignations. In response to the ongoing corruption investigation, the government has also suspended several senior figures at Energoatom.
Svyrydenko further revealed that the cabinet is pursuing individual sanctions against Timur Mindich, a former associate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and businessman Alexander Tsukerman, as part of measures to address the scandal.
Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk officially resigned on November 12, 2025, as shown in images by Thierry Monasse and Andrii Nesterenko via Getty.
The probe, led by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), has been ongoing for 15 months under the code name “Midas.” Investigators claim to have uncovered a “large-scale corruption scheme” targeting strategic state-owned enterprises.
NABU described the operation as involving a “high-level criminal organization” that allegedly secured illicit payments from Energoatom’s contractors, amounting to 10% to 15% of each contract’s value.
“In particular, Energoatom’s contractors were forced to pay kickbacks to avoid having payments for their services/products blocked or losing their supplier status,” the agencies announced.
The offices of NABU, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, on Oct. 1, 2019, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Sean Gallup/Getty)
The anti-corruption agencies stated that the alleged criminal organization had run a Kyiv-based “laundry” office whose premises belonged to the family of former Ukrainian lawmaker and current Russian senator Andrii Derkach.
The office kept “black accounting” records and laundered approximately $100 million through non-resident companies, according to NABU and SAPO.
Five people were detained, and another seven were placed under suspicion, including a former advisor to the Minister of Energy.
The scandal comes amid Russia’s escalating attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that have led to power outages across the country.
A seller waits for customers in a shop during a partial blackout in Lviv on Nov. 28, 2024, following Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP via Getty Images)
“Internally this scandal will be used to undermine unity and stability within the country. Externally, our enemies will use it as an argument to stop aid to Ukraine,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker with Zelenskyy’s party, according to The Associated Press.
“It looks really bad in the eyes of our European and American partners,” Merezhko said. “While Russians destroy our power grid, and people have to endure blackouts, someone at the top was stealing money during the war.”
Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he supports the investigations carried out by Ukraine’s law enforcement and anti-corruption officials.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy participates in a briefing at the Office of the President following a staff meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 7, 2025.
“Right now, it is extremely difficult for everyone in Ukraine – enduring power outages, Russian strikes, and losses. It is absolutely unacceptable that, amid all this, there are also some schemes in the energy sector,” he wrote. “I will sign a decree to impose sanctions on two individuals implicated in the NABU case concerning Energoatom. Right now we all must protect Ukraine. Undermining the state means you will be held accountable. Breaking the law means you will be held accountable.”
