Former energy and justice minister Herman Galushchenko said his son’s education in Switzerland was paid for by his godfather. A prosecutor with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) claims the total spent on Galushchenko’s children studying abroad amounts to 546,000 Swiss francs.
Galushchenko addressed his son’s schooling in Switzerland during a High Anti-Corruption Court hearing on February 17. A journalist asked the suspect what funds were covering his child’s studies overseas.
“Different people paid. The godfather paid, and then a second person — also a relative. And indeed part of the funds came from those companies, but these are funds that are profit from joint activity,” the former energy minister said.
He denied that tuition amounted to $200,000 a year, but maintained the godfather made payments. Galushchenko refused to name the godfather, calling it inappropriate.
“I have many godfathers; I have many children. They are all well-off,” the former minister said.
Investigators with the “Schemes” project reported in December 2025 that the ex-minister’s son attends one of the most expensive colleges in Europe. Journalists said 18-year-old Maksym Galushchenko is a student at College Alpin International Beau Soleil, with tuition at $200,000 a year — a figure that exceeds the family’s official income and declared savings.
During the February 17 hearing, a SAPO prosecutor alleged that part of the money from a corruption scheme at Energoatom went to pay for Galushchenko’s children’s education in Switzerland. According to the prosecutor, the funds were booked in the name of Galushchenko’s wife, Bohdanova, and payments were made at the expense of the fund’s clients. The total spent on schooling for the ex-minister’s two children in Switzerland reached 546,000 Swiss francs (about 30 million hryvnias). Some funds were also used to top up bank card accounts used by Bohdanova.
Ukrainska Pravda reported that the ex-minister was detained as he tried to cross the border into Poland on the night of February 15.
On February 16, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) notified the former energy minister of suspicion in the “Midas” case. He is suspected of large-scale money laundering through foreign funds and of participating in organizing a corruption scheme in the energy sector. The same day, Galushchenko complained of “illegal detention.” (https://focus.ua/politics/744123-galushchenko-pozhalovalsya-na-nezakonnoe-zaderzhanie-chto-reshil-vaks)
At a High Anti-Corruption Court hearing on February 17 to determine pretrial measures, Galushchenko reacted to a proposed bail of 425 million hryvnias announced by SAPO. He said he would remain in pretrial detention for years because neither he nor his associates have that amount.
Parliament voted on November 19, 2025, to dismiss Herman Galushchenko from the post of justice minister following NABU detectives’ exposure of corruption schemes in the energy sector.
