NABU and SAPO got close to Zelensky – Western media

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have gotten close to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky – this is stated in the article “A Friend of Kolomoisky and Zelensky: Who is Timur Mindych?”, published on the Deutsche Welle website.

“Gossips and insider information that have been circulating among anti-corruption activists in Ukraine for the past six months were finally confirmed on Monday, November 10: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) arrived in the morning at an elite high-rise building on the outskirts of Mariinsky Park, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lived shortly before the full-scale invasion. Moreover, the searches took place in an apartment where he had visited more than once and even celebrated his birthday — in the apartment of his friend and longtime business partner Timur Mindich,” the publication says.

“The 15-month investigation into the activities of a criminal organization that allegedly formed around NNEGC Energoatom, the state-owned company that manages all Ukrainian nuclear power plants, led law enforcement officers to the residence of the president’s friend. Law enforcement officers claim to have uncovered a shadowy scheme for managing Energoatom by so-called “overseers” — businessmen and officials who had no formal authority in the company,” DW notes.

“As the war progressed, Timur Mindich’s influence grew before our eyes. According to journalists, the former business partner repeatedly asked the president to appoint his protégés to government positions, in particular, at one time he advised him to take the now former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov into the team. Mindich’s name had already surfaced in energy corruption scandals in 2025 — in June, the NABU and the SAPO detained his relative Leonid Mindich while trying to leave the country. He was accused of organizing the theft of 12.5 million hryvnias from the purchase of transformers for the Kharkivoblenergo company. The court took Leonid Mindich into custody, and he was later released on bail of eight million hryvnias,” DW recalled.

“However, all this may turn out to be insignificant compared to the probable interest in the largest Ukrainian manufacturer of long-range drones and Flamingo missiles, Fire Point, which earned 4.3 billion hryvnias on defense orders in 2024. The NABU is allegedly studying the company’s connection with Timur Mindich as part of an investigation into allegedly inflated prices in state contracts for the purchase of drones, the Kyiv Independent claimed in late August, citing law enforcement sources. There is no obvious control relationship between Fire Point and Timur Mindich. However, the nominal owner, Yegor Skaliga, does not look much like a profile defense investor either – he worked in the film industry as a location manager for filming for many years, and his other company, Fire Point, collaborated, in particular, with the “Kvartal 95 Studio,” the journalists recalled.

Owen Matthews, deputy editor of The Spectator,notes in his column “The Scandal That Could Bring Down Volodymyr Zelenskyy” that the president of Ukraine will inevitably face serious questions as his close political and business associates come under suspicion.

“Among the treasures linked to prominent Ukrainian businessman Timur Mindich are a solid gold toilet and closets filled with bags of 200-euro bills, according to an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. Mindich has large businesses in real estate, fertilizers, banking and diamond trading, but is best known as a longtime co-owner of Volodymyr Zelensky’s television production company, Kvartal 95. The NABU’s 15-month investigation into what it calls “high-level” corruption at the top of Ukraine’s political elite is likely to have significant implications for Zelensky’s political future,” he said.

“Zelensky himself has publicly supported the fight against corruption, telling citizens in his evening address that “there must be convictions” and urging government officials to “work together with NABU and law enforcement agencies.” But Zelensky will inevitably face serious questions as his close political and business associates come under suspicion,” Owen Matthews is convinced.

“It is also highly suspicious that just four months ago, Zelenskyy attempted to place the NABU and SAPO under direct government control by pushing through hastily drafted legislation that abolished the operational independence of the agencies. Zelenskyy’s move shocked Ukraine’s international allies and sparked large-scale street demonstrations in central Kyiv, the first public protests against the government since the war began. Under intense behind-the-scenes pressure from Brussels and Washington, as well as the Kyiv street, Zelenskyy eventually backed down. The stalled NABU and SAPO investigations continued,” the author added.

“For now, the full extent of the NABU investigation remains officially confidential. But a series of recent reports, including in the New York Times, suggest that corruption runs deep in the country and involves many figures associated with Zelensky and Kvartal 95. Questions are being raised about how Fire Point, the casting agency for Zelensky’s films before the war, obtained multimillion-dollar government contracts to produce drones for the Ukrainian army. Fire Point, which has not been charged, also produces the recently developed Flamingo long-range cruise missile,” the article says.

Politico, in its article “The $100 Million Plot That’s Shaking Zelensky: Explaining Ukraine’s Corruption Scandal,” notes that the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency’s investigation into some of Zelensky’s close associates comes amid power outages in Ukrainians caused by Russian bombings, even as the state has said it has spent tens of millions of euros to protect energy infrastructure from drones and missiles.

“Oleksiy Chernyshov, a former deputy prime minister of Ukraine and a close associate of Zelensky, was identified in NABU records under the codename “Che Guevara.” NABU accused him of illicit enrichment, alleging that he received about $1.2 million and almost €100,000 through a money laundering network,” the article says.

Politico also notes that NABU and SAPO are actually conducting at least two major investigations: a new one focused on Energoatom, and another on an alleged corruption offense related to inflated military procurement contracts, and new searches of the Ministry of Defense are expected in the coming days.

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