Court rejects Halushchenko’s appeal; $4.6 million bail left unchanged

3 March, 12:11 AM
Herman Halushchenko (Photo: Serhii Okunev / NV)

Herman Halushchenko (Photo: Serhii Okunev / NV)

The Appeals Chamber of Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) upheld a previous HACC ruling to keep former government minister Herman Halushchenko in pretrial detention with a UAH200 million ($4.6 million) bail, Transparency International reported on March 2.

“Today the appeals chamber reviewed the defense’s and prosecution’s appeals against the preventive measure for former Justice [and Energy] Minister Herman Halushchenko,” Transparency International Ukraine said in a Telegram post.

“The court ruled to leave the HACC decision unchanged and denied the parties' appeal.”

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On Feb. 16, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) charged Halushchenko with corruption offenses as part of the broader Operation Midas case, which has already brought down two ministers (including Halushchenko) and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s longtime chief-of-staff, Andriy Yermak.

Anti-corruption authorities say that while Halushchenko was minister, he participated in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the public through various schemes centered on state nuclear operator Energoatom. According to the investigation, Halushchenko and his co-conspirators were responsible for laundering more than $112 million, with accounts controlled Halushchenko’s family receiving more than $7.4 million.

NABU detectives detained Halushchenko on Feb. 15 as he tried to leave Ukraine.

Halushchenko served as energy minister from 2021 to 2025 and was justice minister from July 17 to Nov. 19, 2025. He was dismissed from the cabinet after NABU started publishing Midas case materials.

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