UKRAINE ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU NAMES EX-ENERGOATOM OFFICIAL AS SUSPECT IN BRIBERY CASE

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau has named a former Energoatom executive director as a suspect in the country's largest wartime bribery investigation, Reuters reported Friday, adding another senior figure to the widening Operation Midas case. According to Reuters, NABU said on Telegram that the former executive director responsible for the physical protection and security of Energoatom facilities is suspected of laundering more than 30 million hryvnias, or about $674,000, between 2023 and 2025. The allegation has not been tested in court, and the suspect is presumed innocent unless convicted.

The notice ties another senior role inside Ukraine's state nuclear-energy company to a case that has become one of the most politically sensitive domestic investigations of the war. Energoatom sits at the centre of Ukraine's energy system at a time when Russian strikes have repeatedly targeted power infrastructure, making allegations around procurement, facility protection and wartime contracting especially damaging for public trust.

Reuters reported that the new suspicion sits inside Operation Midas, a broader investigation into an alleged $100 million kickback scheme connected to Energoatom contracts. Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities have alleged that contractors working with the company were pressured to pay kickbacks worth 10 to 15 percent of contract value to avoid obstacles to payment or continued work.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has also reported on Ukraine's crackdown on alleged "shadow managers" in the $100 million energy-fraud case, describing the investigation as focused on informal influence networks around state energy procurement. Reuters has reported that suspects in the wider case include the businessman Timur Mindich.

The alleged laundering figure in the latest notice is smaller than the overall Operation Midas total, but investigators have described the suspect as the executive director responsible for the physical protection and security of Energoatom facilities. Ukraine's power system has been under sustained pressure since Russia's full-scale invasion, and the protection of energy sites has been a central public-safety and military-resilience issue.

NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office were created to investigate high-level corruption and are closely watched by Ukraine's civil society groups, European partners and foreign donors. Cases involving state companies and senior executives are treated as tests of institutional independence as well as legal proceedings. Western governments and European institutions have pressed Kyiv for anti-corruption progress as part of long-term support and Ukraine's path toward closer integration with Europe.

The Operation Midas allegations concern corruption around contracts rather than any confirmed failure of nuclear safety. Investigators have not alleged that protective systems failed or that Russia gained an operational advantage. The case as described by Reuters and OCCRP centres on claims that money connected to state energy contracting was diverted or laundered during wartime, at a time when public resources are scarce and energy infrastructure is under attack.

The immediate questions are whether prosecutors expand the case, whether the suspect or defence counsel responds publicly, whether a court orders preventive measures such as detention or bail, and whether NABU or SAPO releases further evidence. Energoatom has not issued a public statement on the latest suspicion.

Fact-check date: 11 July 2026
Article type: News
Sources: Reuters, National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (via Reuters), Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project