Corruption suspect Mindich labels accusations "manipulations" and refuses to return to Ukraine from Israel

Tymur Mindich, the sanctioned businessman suspected of corruption in the energy sector, has told an Ukrainska Pravda journalist that he has no intention of returning to Ukraine and considers the investigation into his activities to be "manipulations".

Source: Ukrainska Pravda

Details: Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach, who tracked Mindich down in Israel and spoke with him, said the businessman made it clear that he is not prepared to return to Ukraine or to give testimony.

"To sum up, Mr Mindich is not prepared to return [to Ukraine – ed.]. He will remain in Israel, just like another person of interest in this case. Having Israeli citizenship is very convenient," the journalist said.

During his conversation with Tkach, Mindich also described the accusations against him as "manipulations".

"At the start of this year, we tracked down [Denys] Komarnytskyi [a former member of Kyiv City Council who is suspected of land-related schemes – ed.], who had unexpectedly fled and was being looked for in Ukraine… At the end of the day, Mr Mindich is saying pretty much the same things and pretending that these [accusations against him] are manipulations," Tkach said.

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Background:

• On the morning of 10 November, it emerged that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) was carrying out searches involving businessman Tymur Mindich and the then Minister of Justice, Herman Halushchenko. On the same day, Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that Mindich had fled abroad hours before the searches began.
• Later that day, NABU announced that it had uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme involving the embezzlement of funds in the energy sector and released audio recordings of conversations between the suspects.
• On 11 November, journalists identified all the individuals implicated in the investigation into corruption at Energoatom who had been formally charged by NABU. An investigative reporting project by Skhemy found that notices of suspicion had been served on Tymur Mindich (referred to as "Karlsson" on the NABU tapes), former adviser to the energy minister Ihor Myroniuk ("Rocket"), Energoatom's executive director for security Dmytro Basov ("Tenor"), Oleksandr Tsukerman ("Sugarman"), Ihor Fursenko ("Roshyk"), Lesia Ustymenko and Liudmyla Zorina.

• Five of the suspects were detained, and two – Mindich and Tsukerman – left Ukraine.
• In a statement on 12 November, Studio Kvartal-95 emphasised that Mindich had no part in the studio's activities and no influence on its content.
• On 13 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision by the National Security and Defence Council imposing sanctions on Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman.
• On 22 November, Ukraine put Mindich and Tsukerman on its wanted list.

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