Records that have shaken Ukraine A new wave of the “Mindichgate”

Ukrainska Pravda recently published a previously unknown part of the so-called “Mindich tapes” – intercepted in 2025 conversations of figures involved in a major corruption case in “Energoatom” involving top officials. The content has caused a real domestic political earthquake in Ukraine.

This is a continuation of the high-profile “Timur Mindich case” – a long-time business partner of the current President of Ukraine. And the issue is not only that he is a co-owner of “Kvartal 95 Studio”; as of May 20, 2019 – the day of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inauguration – the Shеfir brothers, Andriy Yakovlev, and Timur Mindich’s company, through the Cypriot firm Green Family Ltd, jointly owned three companies in Russia: Weisberg Pictures, Platinumfilm, and Green Films. This demonstrates the level of ties between Mindich and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and serves as an example of how the current head of the Ukrainian state continued to earn money in Russia even after the annexation of Crimea.

However, even this fact pales in comparison with the new details of the corruption scandal revealed by Ukrainska Pravda. This time, it concerns conversations that Mindich held in the summer of 2025.

The first phone conversation took place with Shеfir and concerned former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, who at the time was suspected of illicit enrichment but had not yet been dismissed. The participants of the call expressed readiness to unofficially take part in what was likely the provision of bail, which, as is known, amounted to 120 million hryvnias. In the conversation, they also mentioned a so-called “cashbox”, “Kisel” and “Sova” – and here it is likely that they were referring to members of parliament who allegedly transfer half of certain earnings to Shеfir.

The next conversation took place with a woman whom Mindich referred to as “Natali,” who likely oversaw the construction of the “Dynasty” cooperative – estates in Kozyn, near Kyiv, some of which, according to sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda, were being built for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, former Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, and Timur Mindich himself.

Moreover, the conversation was conducted in Russian, a detail I emphasise to make it clear how, to put it mildly, hypocritical the attempts of representatives of the Ukrainian leadership appear when they try to present themselves as people who always and everywhere speak Ukrainian, having completely “forgotten” the Russian language.

By the way, regarding the aforementioned cooperative, MP from “European Solidarity” Volodymyr Ariev made a very sharp post on his Facebook page: “Viktor Yanukovych had ‘Mezhyhirya’, while the symbol of corruption at the end of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ‘era of poverty’ is called ‘Dynasty’. It is already clearly visible for whom exactly the ‘era of poverty’ has definitively ended and the era of plunder has begun. And if someone again starts saying that ‘Zelenskyy knew nothing’, show them a photo of the ‘Dynasty’ residential complex with a small house for ‘Vova’.”

However, as it turned out, even this is not the bottom of the corruption abyss. According to materials published by Ukrainska Pravda, Timur Mindich, a sanctioned Ukrainian who fled Ukraine at just the right time, and Rustem Umerov, former Minister of Defence, and now Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, discussed the potential sale of a stake in an arms manufacturer – the company FirePoint – to investors.

We quote journalist of the outlet Mykhailo Tkach, who is leading this high-profile investigation: “According to numerous investigative reports, one of the beneficiaries of this company (FirePoint – ed.) may be Timur Mindich himself. The company receives the largest contracts from the Ministry of Defence, the very same ministry headed by Umerov. And here the businessman complains to the current Minister of Defence that FirePoint is underfunded. Although Timur Mindich himself, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda in December last year, denied any involvement with the company.”

In addition, as it turns out, Mindich and Umerov also discussed the sale of a 33% stake for $600 million, of which $300 million was allegedly intended for investment in development, while the remaining $300 million was the amount meant directly for shareholders, among whom Mindich himself could have been included.

The Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence has already reacted to the above-mentioned part of this scandal, which is cynical in its essence.

In a statement, the organisation said the following:

“We interpret the actions of Timur Mindich as having signs of abuse of influence (Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine); incitement to misuse of funds (Article 27, Part 4; Article 210 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Based on the above, the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine calls for the immediate suspension of Rustem Umerov from the position of Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.

We call on the President of Ukraine, as the head of the NSDC, to initiate a process of selective (partial) nationalisation of the Fire Point company from Ukrainian residents, which would, under certain conditions, allow uninterrupted supplies to the front line without the enrichment of persons involved in corruption abuses.

We call on the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine to create a working group with the participation of representatives of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, branches and types of troops using Fire Point products, as well as anti-corruption and investigative bodies, to conduct a comprehensive audit of the company’s contracts and pricing, and to minimise harmful consequences for the Defence Forces of Ukraine.”

And as the “cherry on top,” Ukrainska Pravda also presented data indicating that the recordings of Mindich’s conversations include references to the Governor of the National Bank, Andriy Pyshnyi, as well as mentions of Sense Bank – a financial institution previously nationalised by the state. It is alleged that financial operations linked to Mindich’s business interests and those of his partners may have been conducted through this bank.

In light of the new information on “Mindichgate,” former Member of Parliament and well-known blogger Boryslav Bereza published the following post on his Facebook page:

“Let’s speak frankly, without illusions. The Governor of the National Bank Andriy Pyshnyi is a 100% unconditional creation of Yermak (former Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine – ed.). He was not appointed there to ensure macro-financial stability or fight inflation. He was appointed exactly for such moments – so that when the so-called ‘Mindiches’ face a cash gap, the head of the NBU would click his heels on a phone call and flood their schemes with money. And if Pyshnyi is not available – there is the obedient state-owned Sense Bank, which was quickly nationalised, and now it is staffed with trusted people of the same Pyshnyi – Stupak, Tyutyun, and others. An ideal ecosystem of looting.”

Summing up, Bereza raises a very topical question: “What will Ukraine’s Western partners say?”:

“Those same IMF and World Bank institutions that for years pushed Kyiv to ensure the independence of the National Bank? They give us billions for the country’s survival, while at the same time, shadow operators are ‘calling Pyshnyi’ to settle their issues. This is no longer even corruption. This is looting and the complete destruction of the remaining state institutions during wartime.”

And a significant number of politicians, public figures, journalists, and bloggers in Ukraine share a similar view.