Top anti-corruption official resigns over Ukraine's biggest graft scandal
Andriy Synyuk, Ukraine's deputy chief anti-corruption prosecutor, said on Nov. 21 that he had stepped down due to an internal probe into leaks in a large-scale corruption investigation into state nuclear power company Energoatom.
He told Ukrainian news site Babel that he had decided to resign to avoid any speculation on his influence on the Energoatom case. The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) later confirmed that he had resigned.
Eight suspects have been charged in the Energoatom investigation — the biggest corruption case during Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency. Timur Mindich, a close associate of Zelensky, is allegedly the ringleader, and former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov has also been charged.
Former Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, ex-Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Rustem Umerov, former defense minister and current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, are also under investigation in the case. They have not been officially charged yet.
Ukraine's chief anti-corruption prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko said on Nov. 13 that the SAPO was investigating allegations that Synyuk had leaked information in the Energoatom investigation.
The statement followed reports that Mindich had been tipped off about possible searches and left the country beforehand.
Klymenko told media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that an internal probe into the leaks was under way, and a criminal case into the allegations was possible.
On Nov. 10, Ukrainska Pravda published video footage of Synyuk meeting with Oleksiy Meniv, a lawyer who visited Mindich's apartment building in the same period.
According to the news outlet's sources, Synyuk had access to the Mindich case.
Synyuk has denied leaking any information in the Mindich case and said he was friends with Meniv. Synyuk also said that Meniv's former wife and children live in the same house as Mindich.
Synyuk was the runner-up in the contest for the job of chief anti-corruption prosecutor in 2021. He eventually lost the race to Klymenko.
Anti-corruption activists questioned his independence at that time since he was a subordinate of then Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. They argued that the President's Office was pushing for Synyuk to be appointed as the chief anti-corruption prosecutor.
