Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities on Monday announced a major operation to investigate a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector, raiding the offices of the state nuclear company Energoatom for the time being amid electricity supply restrictions following the Russian attacks in recent days.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU, by its Ukrainian acronym) and the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Corruption (SAPO) suggested that a “criminal organization” laundered money from its offices in the capital Kiev. The office was the property of Andrei Derkach, a former Ukrainian parliamentarian, businessman, and current Russian senator.
“Through this office, strict control of the funds received was carried out, black bookkeeping was carried out and money laundering was organized through a network of non-resident companies. A significant part of the operations, especially the issuance of cash, was carried out outside Ukraine,” the joint statement said.
According to NABU, the office received percentage payments for providing services to people outside the organization. “In total, nearly $100 million (87 million euros) passed through this cleaning system,” he pointed out through his Telegram channel.
Meanwhile, SAPO reported that day that it had set up a committee to conduct an internal investigation into possible data breaches in the case before the trial.
Meanwhile, Energoatom reported that NABU and SAPO officials were “carrying out investigative procedures in their offices.” “Energoatom will fully cooperate with the investigating authorities, provide all requested documents and contribute to an objective and transparent investigation,” he assured.
In this sense, he emphasized that “we do not prevent the development of procedures, but are interested in thoroughly clarifying the entire situation.”
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