Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies move to next stage in Mindich case investigation

Semen Kryvonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), has reported that the Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have moved from the closed stage to the financial investigation stage in the high-profile Midas case, which involves Tymur Mindich, a friend of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Source: Kryvonos at the UP100 Awards ceremony

Quote: "The investigation has now moved from the closed stage – the stage where we listen, gather evidence of criminal activity, but cannot send requests to state authorities or abroad to, for example, uncover a bank transaction – to our own stage, that is, the financial investigation stage."

Read more: Could this be "Mindichgate"? A closer look at that friend of the president's

Details: Kryvonos said that following searches in the case, the investigation now holds hundreds of seized digital devices, specifically computers and phones as well as many documents, including those taken from Energoatom, Ukraine's state nuclear energy regulator, and other energy companies. The investigators also have several "interesting documents".

Quote: "And now these thousands of records are being cross-checked with what has been seized. We will not stop; we are confident that we must bring this case to an end and show Ukrainian society how much money was stolen, how much was turned into expensive villas in Switzerland, apartments, property and money in accounts. And all of this will be returned to the Ukrainian coffers. This is our task."

More on this topic: Mindichgate: one week on from the corruption scandal, what's going on in the government?

Background:

• Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing sources familiar with the negotiations with the American side in Kyiv, that the issue of NABU and SAPO investigations had been raised privately during a meeting between US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Andrii Yermak, Head of the President's Office, and Rustem Umierov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC).
• Sources familiar with the conversation said Zelenskyy had indicated that he would not be able to "move forward" if anti-corruption agencies soon filed charges against members of his closest circle, as such steps could jeopardise negotiations with the US and European partners.

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