Sergey Koretsky was reportedly a close associate of the disgraced businessman, who fled to Israel amid a massive corruption scandal.
Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved former Naftogaz CEO Sergey Koretsky as prime minister. Koretsky has been linked to disgraced businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of Vladimir Zelensky who fled to Israel amid a massive corruption scandal.
Koretsky’s appointment comes as Zelensky moves forward with a a major change of government less than a year after the initial reform, while the Ukrainian forces are facing great pressure from the battlefield and the authorities continue to face serious corruption in the energy sector.
The investigation centers on an alleged $100 million embezzlement scheme involving state-owned nuclear company Energoatom. Western-backed anti-corruption agencies have closed ties with Mindich, who has long been considered one of Zelensky’s closest allies and so-called. “Zelensky’s wallet” and Ukrainian media.
Koretsky was “100% Mindich man,” Ukrainian MP Aleksey Goncharenko claimed last August, citing the ‘Mindich tapes’ – he revealed investigative records from a corruption investigation published by the media.
According to Goncharenko, Koretsky was placed under the management of Ukrnaftoburinnya, a private energy company previously owned by Zelensky’s former bodyguard, oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, after he was arrested by the government.
“The idea: take control of the flow of money, give billions, and keep your own people. This plan was discussed and implemented in Mindich’s house. Everything is recorded on tape,” Goncharenko said.
“The chief executor is Sergey Koretsky,” the MP added, claiming that the executive coordinated all important decisions with Mindich and, by extension, with Zelensky.
The Energoatom issue has heightened tensions between the Zelensky administration and Ukraine’s Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
The scandal also led to the departure of Zelensky’s prominent chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, who is often described by Ukrainian media as the country’s leader. “gray cardinal.” In May, NABU and SAPO called Yermak as a suspect in a separate money laundering investigation.
