Ukrainska Pravda releases recordings from Midas case involving Mindich and senior officials
Ukrainska Pravda has posted the first part of audio recordings obtained by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) as part of the Midas investigation. The recordings were made in an apartment belonging to sanctioned businessman Tymur Mindich, who is suspected of corruption in the energy sector, and include conversations with several individuals, including Serhii Shefir, former first assistant to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rustem Umierov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, and a woman named Nataliia.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda
Details: The conversations were recorded in Mindich's apartment at 9A Hrushevskyi Street in the summer of 2025. They were all in Russian.
In one of the recordings, Mindich speaks with Shefir about where to find money to post bail for former deputy prime minister Oleksii Chernyshov, who is suspected of abuse of office and bribery.
Mindich said during the conversation that Chernyshov "has siphoned off 6 or 26 [apartments]", while Shefir refers to individuals he calls "Kisiel and Sova" (likely MPs Yurii Kisiel and Oleksandr Sova), noting that they were handing over half of some of their earnings to him.
"First of all, that's not fair. If you're on the team, then you… I've got Kisiel and Sova – if anything comes in from anywhere, it comes here. I said straight away: 50% comes here," Shefir said.
The conversation took place in summer 2025, and in December, Kisiel was served with a notice of suspicion for being part of an organised group that paid bribes to MPs to secure parliamentary votes.
Another recording features a conversation with a woman named Nataliia.
In this exchange, Mindich mentions individuals referred to as "Maks Donets" (likely Maksym Donets, the head of the president's personal security), "Shura" and "Sigismund" (possibly businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman and former energy minister Herman Halushchenko).
They discuss building work, a swimming pool, plastering, tree planting and the need to "mothball the entire site – the whole main base – for a year" (possibly referring to the Dynasty residential complex in Kozyn in Kyiv Oblast previously reported on by the media. Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that these properties are linked to senior political figures, including Zelenskyy, Andrii Yermak, former head of the President's Office, Chernyshov and Mindich).
"*** is stupid. If it comes to light that he's involved, we're f**ked," Mindich said.
A third recording features a conversation with Rustem Umierov, who was then the defence minister and is now the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council.
The discussion covers the possible appointment of Umierov as ambassador to the US and the then prime minister Denys Shmyhal as defence minister.
Mindich and Umierov also discuss Fire Point, a Ukrainian defence company, and its long-range weapons systems FP-1, FP-5 and FP-7. (According to investigative reports, Mindich may be among the company's beneficiaries. Fire Point has been awarded major contracts by the Defence Ministry during Umierov's tenure.). Mindich complained about the company receiving insufficient funding.
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