{"id":1319558,"date":"2025-11-12T17:37:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/operation-midas-hot-on-the-trail-results\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T03:13:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T01:13:26","slug":"operation-midas-hot-on-the-trail-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/operation-midas-hot-on-the-trail-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Fingers Exposed: Operation Midas Strikes at the Heart of Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vadym.denysenko.1\/posts\/pfbid0FwowcRHYV3ZDgUbnjjWDdD4iBrm1NENdL1EpnvZf7mpK2h3o6n3B7XX5PjHPqsEMl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Operation Midas: Bankova Gambled Until the Last Minute \u2014 and Paid the Price.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"58\" data-end=\"327\">\u00a0 \u00a0Over the years, it has become clear: Bankova\u2019s main communication strategy is to solve one problem by creating another. But the scale of this scandal no longer allows for that approach. Delaying resignations now, in my view, will have long-term negative consequences.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"332\" data-end=\"612\" data-is-last-node=\"\">\u00a0 \u00a0The main fallout from this saga is that two anti-heroes \u2014 Mindich and Halushchenko \u2014 have entered the public consciousness as the ones personally responsible for the ongoing electricity crisis. In other words, this scandal has transcended corruption and profiteering from the war.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/they-re-stealing-money-how-minditchgate-will-affect-american-aid\/\">\u201cThey\u2019re stealing money\u201d: How \u201cMinditchgate\u201d will affect American aid<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"86\" data-end=\"401\">\u00a0 \u00a0With a high degree of certainty, this story will escalate to the international stage. Bankova may attempt to coordinate further actions \u2014 including personnel changes \u2014 with international partners. Ultimately, it is those partners who will decide whether to help reduce the information pressure or let it escalate.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"406\" data-end=\"629\">\u00a0 \u00a0Bankova\u2019s main objective is to keep the government from resigning. The opposition, meanwhile, is determined to force the government out on a wave of public outrage. How this plays out will hinge on three decisive factors:<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"631\" data-end=\"886\">\u2013 the success or failure of Russian attacks in causing blackouts;<br data-start=\"696\" data-end=\"699\" \/>\u2013 the willingness of international partners to help curb the domestic information campaigns;<br data-start=\"791\" data-end=\"794\" \/>\u2013 Bankova\u2019s ability to manufacture new informational pretexts to derail the Midas scandal.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"891\" data-end=\"1173\">\u00a0 \u00a0 As I said yesterday, this story has taken on a life of its own. Each new \u201ctwist\u201d will create fresh points of bifurcation. Crucially, this scandal is no longer just an internal Ukrainian affair, and that has serious implications \u2014 including potential consequences for negotiations.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" data-right>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/quarter-95-rats-don-t-drown-they-just-transfer-to-another-boat\/\">\u201cKvartal 95\u201d: The Rats Don\u2019t Sink \u2014 They Just Jump Ship<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><em>We will remind that on November 10, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted searches at the home of businessman and co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio, Timur Mindich, who is an associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the person involved in the case <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/nabu-pryyshlo-z-obshukamy-do-spivvlasnyka-kvartal-95-mindicha-ale-toy-vstyh-vyikhaty-z-krainy-zmi\/\">left the territory of Ukraine a few hours before the searches<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>It was previously reported that NABU and SAPO are conducting <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/operatsiia-midas-tryvala-ponad-rik-nabu-opryliudnyly-pershi-audiozapysy-fihurantiv-koruptsii-v-enerhetytsi\/\">a large-scale operation, &#8220;Midas&#8221;<\/a> to expose corruption in the energy sector. According to the investigation, the activities of a high-level criminal organization were established, which controlled financial flows and personnel decisions in state energy structures. In particular, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the home of former Energy Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/ponad-1000-hodyn-audiozapysiv-nabu-provodyt-obshuky-u-eksministra-enerhetyky-halushchenka-ta-kerivnytstva-enerhoatomu\/\">German Galushchenko and at JSC &#8220;NAEK &#8220;Energoatom&#8221;<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Later, it became known that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine had decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/ministr-iustytsii-halushchenko-tymchasovo-vidstoronenyy-shcho-vidbuvaietsia\/\">remove Herman Galushchenko<\/a> from the duties of the Minister of Justice. Also, the journalists of &#8220;Schemes&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/komu-nabu-povidomylo-pro-pidozru-v-mezhakh-koruptsiynoi-spravy-nazvani-imena\/\">established the names of the persons<\/a> to whom NABU detectives informed about the suspicion within the framework of the investigation of corruption in the energy sector.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would sign a decree imposing <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/zelenskyy-anonsuvav-sanktsii-proty-fihurantiv-rozsliduvannia-nabu\/\">sanctions against participants in the corruption scheme<\/a> at Energoatom.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Also, follow <strong>\u201cPryamyi\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page Operation Midas: Bankova Gambled Until the Last Minute \u2014 and Paid the Price. \u00a0 \u00a0Over the years, it has become clear: Bankova\u2019s main communication strategy is to solve one problem by creating another. But the scale of this scandal no longer allows for that approach. Delaying resignations now, in my view, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1319548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76893],"class_list":["post-1319558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319558"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1319696,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319558\/revisions\/1319696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1319548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}