Zelenskyy pledges to ‘clean up’ Ukraine’s energy sector amid corruption scandal | Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced a plan to “clean up” Ukraine’s energy sector after a $100 million kickback scheme was alleged by anti-corruption investigators in the worst scandal of his presidency.
Over the weekend, the country’s president announced an overhaul of Ukraine’s key state energy companies, including a complete change of management of Energoatom, the state nuclear energy operator at the center of the alleged criminal plot.
He said government officials “are instructed to maintain ongoing and meaningful communication with law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies.” Any plans emerging from these companies need to receive a quick and fair response.
In other announcements on Sunday, Zelenskyy said he had instructed the government to submit an “urgent law” to the Ukrainian parliament to change the structure of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission, one of energy’s key regulators. He also promised to appoint new leaders to the top of other energy bodies.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau announced last Monday that it was investigating a criminal gang behind a scheme in which Energoatom’s counterparties were forced to pay 10-15% commissions to prevent payments from being blocked or losing their supplier status. Ukrainian media later reported that one of the high-profile figures involved was Timur Mindich, a businessman and partner in a media production company that Zelenskyy founded before becoming president.
The reform promises came shortly before Zelenskyy arrived in Athens on Sunday to mark the signing of a deal that will allow Ukraine to import liquefied natural gas supplied by the United States over the winter. The Ukrainian government is urgently looking for alternatives to compensate for the losses caused by Russia’s incessant attacks on its energy infrastructure.
The agreement between Greece’s national gas company DEPA Commercial and its Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz will supply Ukraine with US liquefied natural gas via Greece between December 2025 and March 2026.
“This winter under Russian drones, missiles and daily attacks is a great challenge for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said on X during his visit where he met with Greek president Constantine Tassoulas, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the new US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle. The Ukrainian president expressed his gratitude to US President Donald Trump for the US energy provided through Greece.
Zelenskyy, who will also travel to France and Spain this week to sign military aid deals, is under pressure to prove to his European allies that he is serious about fighting corruption, a key condition for Ukraine to become an EU member.
Finnish president Alexander Stubb told the Associated Press news agency that Zelenskyy should deal quickly with corruption allegations, but also praised his wartime leadership and called on European leaders to increase financial and military support for Ukraine.
The scandal comes at a difficult time when Kiev faces a looming budget deficit and the EU is deadlocked over a 140 billion euro loan to Ukraine based on Russia’s frozen assets. Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, who has blocked progress in Ukraine’s EU accession talks, has seized on the anti-corruption investigation, claiming it showed a “wartime mafia network” with “numerous ties” to Zelenskyy.
The corruption allegations sparked outrage across Ukraine and became the worst scandal of Zelenskyy’s presidency. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau – Nabu – has released damning audio recordings featuring members of Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
They include Mindich, the president’s friend and former business partner, who fled his Kiev apartment last Monday hours before investigators came to arrest him. Mindich, one of the founders of Zelenskyy’s media production company Kvartal 95, fled to Poland in a taxi. He is believed to be hiding in Israel.
The reforms announced by Zelenskyy on Sunday follow his sacking of Ukraine’s justice and energy ministers last week. Both are said to be involved in an incident in which a group of government officials received kickbacks from contracts with Energoatom. Ministers deny injustice.
Most commentators believe the illegal scheme was not a one-off and suggest the scandal could spread to other ministries. Ukrainian media reported Mindich was allegedly involved in a bid to supply body armor to the defense ministry through an Israeli firm and front companies.
Then-defense minister Rustem Umerov, who is now the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, confirmed that he had met with Mindich. But he denied any undue influence, said the contract had been terminated and insisted no product had been delivered.
“This is a huge blow, but the worst part is that I’m not sure we’re at the end of this. It may still be developing,” a pro-government lawmaker told the Kiev Independent newspaper over the weekend.
Nabu officials acknowledge that Ukraine has a corruption problem, nearly four years after Vladimir Putin’s large-scale invasion. But they point out that the scandal has come to light, a situation unlikely in neighboring Russia or EU member Hungary.
“The story is not about corruption. It is about Ukraine’s struggle and fight against corruption,” said Oleksandr Abakumov, head of Nabu’s investigative team.
