Operation Midas. Former Minister of Energy appeared on NABU tapes – video

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday, November 11, published new wiretap recordings made during the investigation of the criminal proceedings on corruption at Energoatom. They relate to the alleged organizer of the scheme – a well-known businessman who is being hidden by the investigation under the pseudonym "Carlson".

The former Minister of Energy appears on these recordings for the first time.

According to NABU, Carlson lived in a house on Kyiv's central Hrushevskoho Street. His apartment served as a place for personal meetings with heads of central executive bodies and even, according to records, one of the former ministers.

"From an apartment on the upper floors of a building on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, Carlson determined to whom and how much cash to give or transfer, and coordinated influence on central government officials to resolve issues in his own interests – in particular in the energy and defense sectors," the NABU said in a statement .

The recordings discuss the transfer of large sums of money, as well as the risks of exposure by NABU detectives.

There are fears that all of their codes could be exposed, although Carlson himself said that the codes are so complex that "even the rats [i.e., snitches] don't know.".

• november 10 NABU conducted 70 searches, including the co-owner of Kvartal 95 LLC Timur Mindich, involving all the bureau's detectives, in the Energoatom corruption case. According to the investigation, the company was run by "lookouts". According to the NABU, the main activity of the organization was the systematic extortion of illegal benefits from the company's counterparties in the amount of 10% to 15% of the value of contracts.
• Herman Halushchenko was the Minister of Energy until July 2025, and before joining the Cabinet of Ministers, he was the Vice President of Energoatom.