{"id":1389006,"date":"2026-05-01T19:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/new-mindich-tapes-how-yermak-s-entourage-allegedly-controlled-sens-bank-and-karpatneftekhim\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T19:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:13:19","slug":"new-mindich-tapes-how-yermak-s-entourage-allegedly-controlled-sens-bank-and-karpatneftekhim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/new-mindich-tapes-how-yermak-s-entourage-allegedly-controlled-sens-bank-and-karpatneftekhim\/","title":{"rendered":"New \u201cMindich tapes\u201d: how Yermak\u2019s entourage allegedly controlled \u201cSens Bank\u201d and \u201cKarpatneftekhim\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Ukrainian Pravda” published the second part of the transcripts of the so-called “Mindich tapes”, which talk about the possible influence of people close to the Office of the President on the state-owned “Sens Bank” and the chemical enterprise “Karpatneftekhim”. In parallel, People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak released<\/a> new audio recordings of conversations between businessman Timur Mindich and former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, in which personnel appointments in the government and the diplomatic corps are discussed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is reported by “Ukrainian Pravda”<\/a> .<\/p>\n

It is noted that after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the state arrested or nationalized a significant number of enterprises with direct ties to Russia. However, an analysis of the transcripts of the Midas case materials indicates that not all of these assets came under real state control.<\/p>\n

Impact on Sense Bank and Karpatneftekhim<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to journalists, businessmen Andriy and Vasyl Veseli allegedly gained influence over the state-owned Sense Bank through their connections with the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak and businessman Timur Mindich. Journalist Mykhailo Tkach noted that in 2024, Vasyl Veseli began to receive official income from Sense Bank and, according to the publication’s sources, was appointed an advisor to the bank’s head.<\/p>\n

The publication’s interlocutors in the business community allegedly called Vesely a “watcher” from the President’s Office and claimed that no important decisions were made without his participation. Vesely himself previously denied such allegations.<\/p>\n

The material also claims that Vasyl Vesely maintained contacts with Oleksandr Tsukerman, a defendant in the Energoatom embezzlement case. In the published recordings, they allegedly discussed the formation of the bank’s supervisory board and control over its members. Separately, the recordings feature a person with the pseudonym “Surgeon”, who, according to the journalists, may be connected to Yermak.<\/p>\n

In a telephone conversation on May 9, 2025, Vesely named a list of candidates for the bank’s supervisory board. More than a month later, on June 18, the Cabinet of Ministers approved these individuals as members of the board. The recordings also contain a phrase that the majority of the members of the supervisory board should be “controlled” by a certain influence group. Later, the composition of the board was partially changed, but some of the individuals mentioned in the recordings continued to work in the bank’s governing bodies.<\/p>\n

The material also contains evidence of how the same group of private individuals allegedly became a participant in the ownership structure of Karpatneftekhim, the country’s largest chemical plant.<\/p>\n

Mindich and Umerov<\/strong><\/h3>\n

MP from the Holos faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak has published new audio recordings in the Mindich case on his YouTube channel. The recordings are dated July 8, 2025: in a telephone conversation, Timur Mindich and then-Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov discussed the candidacy for the position of the new Minister of Defense, as well as who to appoint as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.<\/p>\n

Umerov noted that he allegedly agreed on one of the candidates with President Zelensky \u2014 it was about a person who would be present at meetings with US President Donald Trump and respond to requests from allies.<\/p>\n

In the same conversation, Mindich spoke about Prime Minister Yulia Svirydenko and her team.<\/p>\n

“She is smart, but her team will not be able to perform the necessary tasks,” Timur Mindich said about Prime Minister Yulia Svirydenko.<\/p>\n

In one of the fragments of the conversation, Umerov also expressed concern about the lack of attention to the economy, to which Mindich responded in a dismissive tone. Zheleznyak’s materials also mention an initiative codenamed “Project 23”, the details of which remain unknown, but according to the deputy, it may concern financial issues.<\/p>\n

Operation Midas is a large-scale anti-corruption investigation by the NABU and the SAPO, covering the energy and defense sectors. According to MP Zheleznyak, the emergence of new “films” may be related to Mindich’s attempt to protect his own interests within the anti-corruption proceedings – in particular, due to disagreement with the division of responsibility in cases related to energy and defense.<\/p>\n

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