Ukraine's anti-graft agency alleges $100 million energy kickback scheme

By Max Hunder

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau said it was investigating the country's energy sector on Monday, alleging a $100 million kickback scheme involving the state nuclear power company.

The state agency, which operates independently of the Ukrainian government, announced the investigation as Ukraine braces for winter with its power sector under frequent fire from Russia and facing regular outages.

It alleged in a statement published on social media that a "high-level criminal organisation" was behind the scheme which it said was led by a businessman and included a former adviser to the energy minister, nuclear power operator Energoatom's head of security and four "back office" workers.

"In total, approximately 100 million USD passed through this so-called laundromat," the agency said in the statement, which did not name any of the individuals.

Energoatom currently operates three nuclear plants that supply Ukraine with more than half of its electricity.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address that officials needed to work with the anti-corruption bureau to root out graft.

Four months ago, Zelenskiy sought unsuccessfully to restrict the bureau's independence, before being forced into to U-turn by protests.

"Everyone who has been involved in corruption schemes must receive a clear legal response. There must be criminal verdicts," Zelenskiy said on Monday.

ENERGOATOM SAYS OFFICIALS SEARCHING ITS OFFICES

Energoatom said in a statement on social media that anti-corruption officials were conducting searches in its offices on Monday, and it was cooperating with the investigation.

Ukraine's energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said at a press conference on Monday evening that although she was unfamiliar with the details of the case, she was committed to ensuring a transparent investigation and that those found responsible should be held accountable.

"I hope that the transparency of the investigation will reassure our international partners," she said.

Ukraine's power system has been significantly damaged by a campaign of Russian bombardment this autumn, causing power cuts across the country as Moscow presses on with its war against its smaller neighbour.

Russia has not hit nuclear plants, but has hit substations connected to them, Ukrainian authorities say.

The NABU anti-corruption bureau published photographs of thick bundles of Ukraine's hryvnia currency, U.S. dollars and euros stuffed into bags and stacked on a table.

It did not specify who they belonged to.

"The minister's adviser and the director of security at Energoatom took control of all the company's purchases and created conditions under which all Energoatom's contractors had to pay illegal benefits," said NABU's chief detective, Oleksandr Abakumov.

He alleged that those involved in the scheme had discussed raising the kickback rate to 15% in October during the construction of protective structures at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant.

KICKBACK PAYMENTS

According to investigators, Energoatom's counterparties were forced to pay kickbacks of 10%-15% to avoid having payments for services or goods blocked, or losing their supplier status.

"A strategic enterprise with an annual income of over 200 billion hryvnias ($4.79 billion) was managed not by the proper officials, but by third parties who had no formal authority," the statement said.

The anti-corruption bureau said it had conducted 70 searches and all its detectives had been involved in an investigation that has lasted 15 months and gathered 1,000 hours of audio recordings.

Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a prominent champion of the anti-corruption agency, said he had tabled a motion in parliament to seek the dismissal of energy minister Hrynchuk, as well as her predecessor German Galushchenko, who is now justice minister.

Hrynchuk declined to comment on the motion, while Galushchenko did not reply to a request for comment.

In July 2025, large protests and international criticism forced Zelenskiy to reverse course and restore the independence of Ukraine's two main anti-corruption agencies.

Eradicating graft and shoring up the rule of law are key requirements for Kyiv to join the European Union, which Ukrainians see as critical to their future as they fend off a Russian invasion.

($1 = 41.7754 hryvnias)

(Reporting by Max Hunder, Yuliia Dysa and Anastasiia Malenko; Editing by Toby Chopra, Alexandra Hudson, Jan Harvey and Alexander Smith)