Denmark concerned over Fire Point’s ties to Mindich
Troels Lund Poulsen (Photo: Ritzau Scanpix/Sebastian Elias Uth via REUTERS)
Copenhagen is “concerned” by Ukraine’s ongoing corruption scandal casting a shadow over Fire Point, a Ukrainian defense contractor with production facilities in Denmark, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Dec. 1.
Speaking on the sidelines of the European Union foreign affairs council meeting, Poulsen told reporters there is no corruption link to the Fire Point plant in Denmark, which operates under Danish law.
“I have no concerns about Fire Point in Denmark,” he said.
“But of course I am concerned about the current discussion of the corruption scandal in Ukraine.”
Poulsen added that Denmark is doing “everything possible” to track funds it provides to Ukraine, including appointing external auditors to monitor how they are spent. He said he planned to raise the issue during an upcoming meeting in Brussels with Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Denmark has formally requested from Ukraine a report “on some of the points that have been publicly raised” about Fire Point.
On Nov. 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) published some findings from its Operation Midas, a corruption investigation into a money laundering scheme centered on state nuclear operator Energoatom. The primary suspect in the criminal probe, Tymur Mindich, is a former business associate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and, according to the tapes released by NABU, was involved with Fire Point.
On Nov. 22, the company addressed its ties to Mindich, saying that he made an offer to buy a sizeable stake in Fire Point but was refused.
According to opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, “Shmel,” a person of interest in NABU's Operation Midas tapes presented in court, is Fire Point co-owner Ihor Khmelyov. Zheleznyak further alleged that company co-owner and chief designer Denys Shtilerman appears as "Elektronik" in the tapes.
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