SAPO chief announces upcoming development in “Midas” case
Oleksandr Klymenko, Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), announced a new development in the “Midas” case, which concerns corruption in the energy sector.
He shared the information in an interview with Ukrinform.
“We are actively investigating this case. There are challenges related to executing a large number of requests for international legal assistance in various jurisdictions, some of which are quite complex and cannot produce results quickly. But overall, progress is evident, and the next development in the ‘Midas’ case will not be long in coming,” he said, commenting on the ongoing investigation.
When asked whether “next development” meant the announcement of suspicions against the investigation’s suspects, Klymenko replied that the NABU and SAPO do not announce suspicions in advance.
The SAPO chief also explained that ten detectives from the NABU’s First Main Unit are working on the “Midas” case, while a large number of detectives were involved at the initial stage. Two prosecutors oversee the procedural management of the investigation.
Regarding whether employees of the President’s Office fall under the NABU and SAPO jurisdiction, Klymenko noted that jurisdiction is determined by position, the amount of illicit gain, and the size of damages.
“By position, they are not under our jurisdiction, but they may be if the bribe amount is significant. For example, if the Head of the President’s Office or their deputies received a bribe exceeding $40,000, they would fall under the NABU’s jurisdiction
Klymenko also criticized the State Financial Monitoring Service (SFMS) for not providing adequate support in the investigation.
“Most interaction with the SFMS is handled by the NABU, but in my view, they are not providing proper assistance. We need concrete results, not generalized reports that say little beyond that funds moved from point A to point B.
When I previously worked as a NABU detective, we received vast amounts of information from the SFMS – not just about transactions. They provided information on suspects’ foreign passports, related individuals and companies, and even froze assets abroad. None of this is happening now. I believe it all depends on their willingness to help,” he said.
As reported by Ukrinform, on November 10, 2026, the NABU announced the “Midas” special operation to expose corruption in the energy sector.
The investigation determined that members of the criminal organization built a large-scale scheme to influence strategic state-owned enterprises, including Energoatom. The NABU reported that five of the seven suspects had been detained.
Among the suspects are a businessman considered the head of the criminal organization, a former energy ministry advisor, and the executive director for physical protection and security at Energoatom.
According to the “Schemes” project, those who received suspicion include businessman and co-founder of the Kvartal-95 studio Tymur Mindich (codenamed “Karlson” in the NABU recordings), former energy ministry advisor Ihor Myroniuk (“Rocket”), Energoatom security executive director Dmytro Basov (“Tenor”), and four other “back-office” employees involved in money laundering – Oleksandr Tsukerman (“Sugarman”), Ihor Fursenko (“Ryoshik”), Lesia Ustymenko, and Liudmyla Zorina.
Five individuals on the suspect list have been detained. Mindich and Tsukerman left Ukraine.
On November 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted an NSDC decision to impose personal sanctions on Mindich and Tsukerman.
On November 28, as part of the “Midas” investigation, the NABU conducted searches at the office of then-Head of the President’s Office Andrii Yermak, as well as at NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov.
Photo: Danylo Antoniuk / Ukrinform