Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities on Monday accused former energy minister German Galushchenko of laundering millions of dollars in kickbacks, a day after he was detained while attempting to leave the country.
Accusations in the “Midas” case
Galushchenko served as energy minister from 2021 to 2025 and briefly held the justice portfolio until his resignation over the scandal last year. He has become one of the most senior officials implicated in the “Midas” case, an alleged $100 million kickback scheme at state nuclear company Energoatom.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said Galushchenko “was exposed for money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation,” according to a NABU statement.
Alleged transfers to family beneficiaries
Investigators said more than $7 million had been transferred to foreign accounts naming Galushchenko’s wife and four children as beneficiaries. NABU said some funds paid for the children’s education at elite schools in Switzerland, while other money was placed in “a deposit, from which the family of the high-ranking official received additional income and spent it on their own needs.”
Detention at the border and response
NABU said on Sunday that Galushchenko was detained “whilst crossing the state border,” without specifying the arrest location.
Galushchenko has denied wrongdoing. Reuters was unable to reach him for comment or locate a lawyer representing him.
Broader investigation and political sensitivities
The case has ensnared senior officials and members of Ukraine’s business elite, including a former close associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy from his pre-political media career, raising concerns among Kyiv’s Western allies.
Prosecutors say participants in the scheme extorted bribes from Energoatom contractors in exchange for completing projects, including structures designed to protect energy facilities from Russian air strikes.
Authorities have previously said the plot was organised by former Zelenskiy associate Timur Mindich, who fled to Israel before he could be arrested in November. Mindich, who founded the television studio behind the sitcom that helped bring Zelenskiy fame as an actor before he entered politics, has denied wrongdoing.
A former deputy prime minister was arrested in November, and NABU has said other former senior officials remain under investigation.
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