PM Svyrydenko in Rada denies knowing, visiting Mindich

Prime Minister Yuliya Svyrydenko has stated that she was not acquainted with the sanctioned entrepreneur Tymur Mindich and has never been to his apartment, the recordings from which are featured in a National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) case concerning corruption at Energoatom. She made this statement in the Verkhovna Rada on Friday, May 1, while answering a question from MP Oleksiy Honcharenko during the hour of questions to the government. "Not acquainted. Never visited," she said.

Commenting on this fact on Facebook on Friday, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Holos faction) remarked that while he is not a fan of Svyrydenko and shares some critiques of the current government’s economic policy, the available data suggests she was not involved with the group. He emphasized that the figures in "MindichGate" clearly disliked her and that she had blocked their candidates. He added that she does not appear on the tapes personally or in the context of any improper interaction with Mindich’s associates, noting, "So, that’s a plus here".

As previously reported, Ukrainska Pravda released the first part of conversations documented by NABU as part of the "Midas" case in the apartment of Mindich, who is suspected of corruption in the energy sector. Those recordings involved several individuals, including Serhiy Shefir, a former first assistant to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; a woman named Nataliia, who reportedly manages estate construction in the Dynastiia cooperative; and current NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov. Subsequently, MPs Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Honcharenko (European Solidarity faction) published text versions on their YouTube channels of what they claim to be recordings of businessman Tymur Mindich’s conversations.