Mindich — a figure in a high-profile corruption case in Ukraine and an associate of Zelenskyy — found in Israel. What did he say?
In Israel, journalists also found another figure in the case: businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman.
Timur Mindich. Screenshot from 'Ukrainska Pravda' video.
In November, a corruption scandal erupted in Ukraine concerning "Energoatom" (the "Midas" case). One of the main figures in the case is businessman Timur Mindich, co-owner of "Kvartal 95" studio and an associate of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Journalists from 'Ukrainska Pravda' found him in Israel. He was met in an elite suburb of Tel Aviv. Mindich left Ukraine 4 hours before searches were conducted at his premises. The businessman has Israeli citizenship since at least 2022.
Mindich, whom the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) suspects of corruption in the energy sector and against whom Ukrainian sanctions have been imposed, stated that there was a large media attack against him and refused to comment on the legal component of the case.
He told 'Ukrainska Pravda' that there is a "large media case, which constitutes about 90% of the matter."
"That is, I was accused, I was implicated, that is, I was made the scapegoat by the media," he said, adding that there is also a "legal case."
"In the legal case, I cannot comment much because there are lawyers, there is an entire history that I cannot comment on," said Mindich.
He denies ever giving any instructions to Rustem Umerov, who was the Minister of Defense.
Another figure in the case, businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman, also told 'Ukrainska Pravda' that "NABU detectives, along with someone else, created a movie," referring to the published recordings.
What is the "Midas" corruption case about?
On the morning of November 10, it became known that NABU was conducting searches at the premises of businessman Timur Mindich and the then Minister of Justice, Herman Halushchenko. At the same time, sources of 'Ukrainska Pravda' reported that Mindich fled abroad a few hours before the searches.
On the same day, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine announced that it had uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme involving the embezzlement of funds in the energy sector and also published audio recordings of the negotiations between the figures involved in the case.
On November 11, journalists revealed the names of all individuals involved in the investigation into mass corruption at "Energoatom" who received suspicion notices from NABU. According to the 'Skhemy' project, those suspected include Timur Mindich (referred to as "Carlson" in the NABU-published audio recordings), former advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Miranyuk ("Rocket"), Energoatom's executive director for security Dmytro Basov ("Tenor"), Oleksandr Tsukerman ("Sugarman"), Ihor Fursenko ("Reshik"), Lesya Ustimenko, and Lyudmyla Zoryna.
Five people from the list of suspects have been detained. Two — Mindich and Tsukerman — have left Ukraine.
On November 13, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision by the National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions against Mindich and businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman.
On November 22, it became known that Ukraine had declared Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman, figures in the "Midas" case suspected of committing corruption offenses, as wanted.