Last November, Ukraine was shaken by a large-scale corruption investigation exposed by NABU. The investigation was called Operation Midas, and revealed how influential businessmen and top officials entirely took control over state energy giant Energoatom(a large state nuclear power enterprise). The criminal group created a cynical scheme of extortion called "Tollgate''. The members of the group artificially blocked payment for subcontractors that carried out contracts for nuclear power plants and demanded 15%-20% kickbacks to get legally earned money. The criminal group's activity led to tragic consequences; protective construction for critically important energy facilities was not ready before the winter, when Russia intensified attacks on the power grid facilities. Over $100 million was siphoned from Ukraine through this scheme, which was laundered via a network of temporary firms and then converted into luxury real estate in Bali, Swiss bank accounts, and cryptocurrency.
One of the most sensational parts of the NABU investigation was the exposure of the shocking audio recordings. To confuse investigators, suspects used childish and political nicknames, but NABU managed to prove that President Zelensky's inner circle was hiding behind this conspiracy.
The head of the organization under the call sign “Carlson” turned out to be Timur Mindich, a close friend of the president and co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio. founded and managed in the past by Zelensky. Also, the core of the criminal group included former Vice Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshow, with the call sign "Che Guevara", whose daughter is a goddaughter of Zelensky's wife and former Energy Minister German Halushchenko, nicknamed "Sigizmnd and Professor".
The activity of the crime group was coordinated via a shadow back office located in the apartment belonging to the family of ex-MP, fugitive Andriy Derkach, who is currently a senator of Russia and had been working for Russian special services until 2023.
The key figure who, according to the investigation, provided a political cover-up was the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, mentioned on the tapes under the call sign "Ali Baba". Western strategic partners, especially in the White House, had been convincing Zelensky to get rid of him, Yermak, because he was too toxic, but the President dismissed him only after shocking tapes were revealed.
The revealed audio recordings of conversations between members of the criminal gang shocked everyone with their cynicism and showcased that corruption in the country has gone beyond all bounds. In these recordings, the suspects complained about how heavy their bags of cash were—“My back already hurts like hell from carrying these wads of cash”—and cynically referred to a $90,000 kickback from the 3 billion dollar defense contract as “peanuts for beggars.” Moreover, the conversations proved that part of the stolen millions went directly to Russia, to bank accounts in Moscow.
Gentler participants performed the supporting roles of executors on the spot: the executive security director of "Energoatom," Dmytro Basov, under the call sign "Tenor," who registered the Bali villas and luxury vehicles in his name; ex-advisor to the minister, Ihor Myronyuk - call sign "Rocket"- as well as two women - Lesya Ustymenko and Lyudmila Zorina- who were running "black accounting" and coordinated the movement of funds in a shadow office.
The screaming exposure ended with Mindich and his partner, financier Alexander Zukerman - call sign Sugarmen managing to hide in Israel using Israeli passports and being put on the wanted list. The most bitter fact is that nobody ended up behind bars. Two female accountants were almost immediately released from detention after simply paying the assigned bail amounts. The entire political elite also left the jail, without any major obstacles, paying the astronomical bail set by the Supreme Anticorruption Court (VAKS): Andrey Ermak - 140 million UAH ($3,1 mln), German Galushchenko - 150 million UAH ($3,3 mln), Alexey Chernyshov - 51.6 million UAH ($ 1.155 mln), and Dmitry Basov - 40 million UAH ($900 thousand).
Midas case is not just another corruption scandal, which Ukraine has seen dozens of before. It is a devastating and overwhelming blow to the final illusions of society. When, in the midst of a terrible war, under regular attacks on the energy system, the inner circle of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief cynically steals millions from protecting nuclear power plants and transfers them to Moscow, people lose hope. The fact that organizers caught in the act easily escape using foreign passports, and top officials find millions for bail in a snap of fingers and leave jail with smiles on their faces, completely destroys faith in justice. If even the threat of a blackout and a disaster on a national scale with a huge number of potential victims can't stop the ruling elite's greed in the Presidential Administration, then Ukrainian society is destined for an eternal cycle of impunity, where the system always protects its people, and only ordinary people at the front and in the rear pay for all mistakes at the highest cost - their own lives.