Why Ukraine’s nuclear corruption cleanup is taking so long

Kyiv vowed to clean up corruption at Ukraine’s troubled state-run nuclear company, but seven months after the country’s most significant wartime corruption scandal, the old system remains largely intact.

Energoatom, which operates three working nuclear plants that generate more than 60% of Ukraine’s electricity, became the poster child for Kyiv’s wartime corruption after anti-graft authorities uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme last November.

Among the perpetrators were close associates of President Volodymyr Zelensky, including his business partner Timur Mindich, former right-hand man Andrii Yermak, and then-Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko.

Since the scandal, Energoatom’s new supervisory board — launched in January as part of anti-corruption reforms — has suspended some suspects linked to the scheme and, on June 15, launched a long-awaited competition for a new CEO.

But top-level managers linked to the Mindich group are still working at the company, including acting CEO Pavlo Kovtonyuk, who was named in wiretapped recordings gathered by anti-corruption authorities, several energy and anti-corruption experts told the Kyiv Independent.

In another setback, two independent members of the supervisory board suddenly quit their posts last month. Initially, reformers had high hopes for the board, but state-appointed members now outnumber independent members three to two, which they say could compromise its independence.

"This fundamentally alters the governance balance that was intended to safeguard independent oversight and accountability within the company," Martyna Bohuslavets, head of the Ukrainian anti-corruption center Mezha, told the Kyiv Independent.

Rotten system

One reason the scheme was able to go unchecked for so long was that the Energy Ministry, under then-Energy Minister Halushchenko, blocked the supervisory board from functioning. In addition, Halushchenko’s allies allegedly hijacked the company’s internal anti-corruption safeguards, including the security director’s office.

"Over many years, informal centers of influence developed around personnel appointments, procurement processes, and financial flows within the company," a former energy sector official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.

Keen to repair some of the reputational damage and regain trust, the government formed the new supervisory board in record time earlier this year. The appointment of prominent figures such as former Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman was widely seen as an effort to instill confidence in the rebooted board.

While the board has largely refrained from publicly broadcasting its reform efforts, aside from a handful of press releases, it is working hard behind the scenes, a person with knowledge of the matter told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.

"I am confident that the results of the huge amount of work undertaken since the beginning of this year will soon be more visible," the person added.

That work includes launching an internal investigation, restructuring the security team to improve transparency, and boosting cooperation with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, among other things, Bohuslavets said.

But Bohuslavets also said she remains concerned that several employees in Energoatom’s leadership linked to the Mindich case are still working at the company. The search for a new CEO should have begun much earlier, and finding a replacement will take several months, giving the old guard more time to resist reforms, she added.

Nuclear energy expert Olga Kosharna told the Kyiv Independent that she has seen no attempt by Kovtonyuk to reform Energoatom. She claims he was under the influence of Halushchenko, and linked Kovtonyuk to the network of Andrii Derkach — a former Energoatom CEO who later became a Russian lawmaker and who authorities say is embroiled in the Mindich scheme.

As head of Energoatom, Derkach forged close ties with Russia’s nuclear sector and resisted efforts to bring the company in line with European standards, Tetiana Shevchuk, a lawyer with the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a watchdog, previously told the Kyiv Independent.

Under Derkach and others, Energoatom earned a reputation as a notoriously corrupt company riddled with price gouging and cronyism, hidden behind an opaque procurement system. Foreign financial institutions, like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, avoided lending to the firm as a result.

"Genuine reform requires changes to the system of governance, accountability, oversight, and decision-making. At present, I do not see sufficient grounds to conclude that such changes have taken place," the former energy official said.

The Kyiv Independent reached out to Energoatom to respond to the claims that reforms are slow and that a corrupt system remains within the company, but did not hear back by time of publication.

Without a truly independent supervisory board, it will be harder to shield the company from the corrupt system, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the former head of state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo, who was controversially ousted in 2024, told the Kyiv Independent.

In his view, the government is avoiding meaningful changes and has implemented only surface-level reforms. Instead, he believes Energoatom needs to be gutted to break the system.

"I would fire a hundred people from there on day one," he said.

"We did this at Ukrenergo five years ago. You fire people and hire new ones. That’s it."

Author's note:

Hi, it’s Dominic, thank you for reading this story. Corruption is a frustrating issue in Ukraine and it brings me no joy to report on. But corruption festers in darkness and it's our duty to shine a light on these issues instead of pretending they don't exist . If you want to help us keep reporting on the real world problems in Ukraine, become a part of the incredible Kyiv Independent community. You can sign up here for as little as a cup of coffee a month.