NABU and SAP complete pre-trial probe in Operation Midas energy graft scheme

According to anticorruption detectives, members of the extortion ring demanded kickbacks ranging between 10% and 15% of the total face value of state procurement contracts. To launder the illicit proceeds, the syndicate operated a dedicated shadow back-office, utilizing cryptocurrency transactions, domestic and foreign securities, and an offshore investment fund.

NABU revealed that between 2020 and 2025, more than $111 million and €12 million in illicit cash and digital assets flowed through the covert back-office. Law enforcement agencies have executed sweeping asset freezes against the criminal organization’s domestic and international holdings, while ancillary investigations into broader money laundering and graft networks across the energy industry remain ongoing.

Anticorruption detectives originally dismantled the criminal syndicate during coordinated raids under Operation Midas in November 2025. Official notices of suspicion were subsequently served to multiple high-ranking former officials, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov and former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

Operation Midas

NABU and SAP launched Operation Midas in November 2025, revealing an entrenched influence-peddling and extortion operation that held sway over Energoatom procurement tenders, demanding 10% to 15% kickbacks on corporate contracts.

In the investigation, law enforcement agencies served criminal indictments on eight primary suspects. Key figures in the case include businessman and Kvartal 95 co-founder Timur Mindich — identified on covert NABU audio surveillance recordings under the operational codename "Carlson" — former energy ministerial adviser Ihor Myronyuk ("Rocket"), former Energoatom executive director for security Dmytro Basov ("Tenor"), businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman ("Sugarman"), and operational staff of the clandestine back-office who coordinated financial laundering pipelines.

According to law enforcement sources, Mindich fled the sovereign territory of Ukraine overnight into Nov. 10, 2025. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) slapped sweeping personal sanctions against him.