On Sunday, February 15, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) detained former Energy Minister German Galushchenko. He is a figure in a case involving large-scale embezzlement at state nuclear operator Energoatom.
“Today, while crossing the state border, NABU detectives detained the former energy minister as part of the ‘Midas’ case,” the anti-corruption agency said in a statement.
Ukrainian news outlet Zerkalo Nedeli reported, citing law enforcement sources, Galushchenko will be served a notice of suspicion once he is brought to Kyiv.
German Galushchenko served as Ukraine’s energy minister from April 2021 to July 2025, after which President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed him the country’s justice minister. On November 10, NABU conducted searches at Galushchenko’s premises, at Energoatom, and at the home of Tymur Mindich, a longtime associate of Zelensky and co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio. Amid the scandal, Galushchenko was suspended from his duties as justice minister on November 12.
Investigators say the organizers of the Energoatom scheme demanded kickbacks amounting to 10% to 15% of contract values. In particular, Energoatom’s contractors allegedly had to pay to avoid blocked payments for services rendered or goods delivered, or to avoid losing supplier status - a practice dubbed “shlagbaum” (“barrier”).
“In effect, a system was created in which a strategic enterprise with more than 200 billion hryvnias in revenue was being run not by its top managers, supervisory board or the state as owner, but by an outsider who, without an
