By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine suspended a cabinet minister on Wednesday pending an investigation into an alleged $100 million energy procurement kickback scheme, as public anger over corruption shakes faith in the wartime government.
Anti-corruption authorities said this week they had detained five people and identified two others still at large, suspected of involvement in the alleged scheme to control procurement at nuclear agency Energoatom and other state enterprises.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who had previously served as energy minister, would be suspended during the investigation. Galushchenko has not been identified as one of the seven suspects announced this week, but one of his advisors has been.
Galushchenko said on Facebook he supported his suspension as “a civilised and appropriate scenario” and vowed to defend himself, without sharing more details of the probe.
Galushchenko’s voice was among those captured in a recorded conversation with some of the suspects in the case released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The minister did not respond to a Reuters request for additional comment.
LATEST IN STRING OF CORRUPTION REVELATIONS
The probe by anti-corruption body NABU, details of which have been incrementally released in sleekly produced videos featuring the lead detective, is the latest revelation of alleged graft that has plagued Ukraine’s wartime leaders.
Showing progress in fighting corruption is central to Kyiv’s bid for membership in the European Union, which officials consider as key to escaping Moscow’s influence.
Accusations of kickbacks in the energy sector are particularly sensitive among Ukrainians, who are facing daily blackouts ahead of winter as a result of massive Russian attacks on infrastructure.
Earlier this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tried to limit the powers of NABU and another anti-corruption body in a shakeup, but rowed back on those changes after rare street protests and an outcry from European countries.
Political opponents accused Zelenskiy of trying to scuttle the activities of corruption-fighting bodies to protect his associates, which Zelenskiy strongly denies.
One of the seven suspects identified by prosecutors is Timur Mindich, a co-owner of the influential Kvartal-95 television studio, which produced the popular sitcom that brought Zelenskiy to fame as a comedian before he launched his political career with a successful campaign for president in 2019.
Mindich did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to Kvartal 95. In a statement on Wednesday, the company said it had legal ties to Mindich as a co-owner, but that he did not influence its content and the reported allegations involving him were unrelated to the company’s activities.
(Additional reporting by Anastasiia MalenkoEditing by Kim Coghill, Alex Richardson, Peter Graff)
