Mindich says he has been scapegoated by the media and declines to comment on legal case

Businessman Tymur Mindich, who is suspected by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) of corruption in the energy sector and has been placed under Ukrainian sanctions, has said that he is facing a major media attack and has refused to comment on the legal aspects of the case.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda investigation

Details: Speaking to Ukrainska Pravda, Mindich said there is a "major media case" that makes up about 90% of the matter.

Quote from Mindich: "In other words, I have been accused, things have been attributed to me, I have been made the fall guy in the media."

More details: Mindich added that there is also a "legal case".

Quote from Mindich: "I cannot really comment on the legal case because there are lawyers involved and a whole story which I cannot comment on."

More details: Mindich denied that he had ever given any instructions to Rustem Umierov, who then served as defence minister.

Another suspect named in the recordings, Oleksandr Tsukerman, also told Ukrainska Pravda that "NABU detectives along with someone else created a film", referring to the released recordings.

Quote from Tsukerman: "It [NABU's story] was shown to destabilise a certain situation, to get something from our country."

Background:

• On the morning of 10 November, it emerged that 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 just 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.
• 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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