Explainer: What is going on with Ukraine's biggest new corruption case?

The corruption probe centered around the state nuclear power company Energoatom is turning into one of Ukraine's largest political scandals on record.

The alleged ringleader is Timur Mindich, a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky and a co-owner of the president's Kvartal 95 production company. Mindich was tipped off and left the country prior to being charged.

Meanwhile, several other heavyweights were also implicated, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

Those implicated include former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who served as energy minister earlier this year, and Rustem Umerov, former defense minister and current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

The Kyiv Independent explains the case, the roles of those involved, and what it all means.

Who is implicated?

On Nov. 11, the Anti-Corruption Bureau charged eight people with bribery, abuse of office, and illicit enrichment. It also published tapes where the group, using code names and encrypted language, discussed alleged kickbacks and bribes.

The main organizer of the alleged corruption scheme is Mindich, according to the bureau.

In the tapes published by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mindich goes by the alias Karlsson.

Another person charged on Nov. 11 is Ihor Myroniuk, who is called Rocket in the tapes. He is a former advisor to then-Energy Minister Halushchenko and a former deputy head of the State Property Fund.

He also previously served as an aide to Andrii Derkach, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who has been charged with high treason and currently serves as a Russian senator.

Dmytro Basov, identified as Tenor on the tapes, was also charged. He is a former prosecutor and ex-head of Energoatom's physical security department.

Four other people charged on Nov. 11 worked at a back office used for money laundering, according to the NABU. One of them is businessman Mykhailo Tsukerman, known as Sugarman, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent.

Tsukerman is also under investigation in the U.S. in a money laundering case, according to Ukrainska Pravda's sources.

According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau tapes, participants of the alleged corruption scheme allegedly gave $1.2 million and 100,000 euros to former Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov, known as Che Guevara. He was charged with illicit enrichment.

Chernyshov was fired after the Anti-Corruption Bureau charged him with bribery and abuse of office in June. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Out of the eight people charged, Mindich and Tsukerman have fled, and five others have been detained, the law enforcement source said. No information was available on whether Chernyshov was detained.

Halushchenko, who is sometimes identified as "energy minister" and sometimes by the code name "Professor," also features in the NABU tapes.

Anti-corruption prosecutor Serhiy Savytskyi said at a court hearing on Nov. 11 that Mindich had allegedly committed his crimes by unlawfully influencing Halushchenko and former Defense Minister Umerov.

The Justice Ministry, the Energy Ministry, and the National Security and Defense Council, where Umerov now works, did not respond to requests for comment.

Umerov denied accusations, saying that he had cancelled a procurement contract with a company that Mindich was involved with due to the provided products being of low quality.

So what is the scheme?

Myroniuk and Basov allegedly collected 10-15% in kickbacks from Energoatom's contractors in exchange for keeping their status as suppliers and for not blocking their products and services, according to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Energoatom has an annual revenue of around Hr 200 billion ($4.7 billion), according to the NABU.

The participants of the scheme blackmailed and pressured contractors by taking advantage of a government regulation that bans contractors from claiming debts in court from certain strategic companies, including Energoatom, during martial law, according to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

"We'll just revoke the certification and cancel the technical specifications...," Myroniuk allegedly said in the tapes, describing his efforts to pressure contractors. "It'll be total fucking chaos for the whole line of companies. You'll just end up on the blacklist. You'll be wiped out completely, and all your employees will be conscripted into the army."

In the tapes, the participants of the alleged corruption scheme also express reluctance to build defensive installations for energy facilities to protect them from Russian attacks.

"So we won't build protective structures anymore?" Basov said.

"I would wait," Myroniuk replied. "It's a waste of money — not worth it."

Later, they discuss giving contracts for protective structures to a company that they control to earn money from such projects.

Myroniuk and Basov also discuss increasing kickbacks for the construction of defensive installations from 10% to 15%.

What is Mindich's role?

The alleged kickbacks from Energoatom were laundered at a back office in downtown Kyiv owned by pro-Russian fugitive lawmaker Derkach's relatives, according to the NABU.

The back office was allegedly headed by Tsukerman and has laundered around $100 million.

The NABU said that Tsukerman's activities were, in turn, controlled by Mindich from the upper floor of a building on Hrushevsky Street — an apparent reference to the building where both Mindich and Zelensky have apartments.

In the tapes, there is a conversation between Mindich and Halushchenko.

Mindich also discusses receiving money from Tsukerman in the recordings. The Anti-Corruption Bureau said that the conversation took place after Halushchenko visited the President's Office.

Among other things, Mindich mentions some unknown agreement about money with prosecutors, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and the Economic Security Bureau. They did not respond to requests for comment.

Tsukerman also said in the tapes that Mindich "is buying a house."

"(Karlsson) is asking us to pay $3 million to Switzerland," he said. "...Another million (must be paid) to Israel, and another $3 million to Switzerland again."