Former NSDC Deputy Secretary Havrysh claims possible conflict of interest in Midas case and criticizes Ukrainian officials
29 November 2025 14:44
OPINION
Former First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Stepan Havrysh in an interview with the YouTube channel Kommersant Ukrainian spoke harshly about the Midas case and possible ties between the suspects and government officials.
Gavrysh believes that the causes of corruption scandals among officials responsible for defense and security of the state lie in the moral degradation of the elites.
“Greed, lack of internal moral imperatives – that’s why people responsible for the national defense and security of Ukraine get into such scandals,” he said.
In his opinion, this poses a serious challenge to Ukraine as a genetic cycle of nations capable of building its own statehood.
The former official also said that NSDC head Rustem Umerov and the delegation that worked on the Istanbul Memorandum “actually agreed to surrender.” Speaking about Umerov himself, Havrysh added:
“I want to note that he is involved in this case in one way or another. So far, the investigation is ongoing… these are people in the status of suspects, there are no verdicts.”
Havrysh drew special attention to a possible conflict of interest in the work of the National Security and Defense Council, since it is Umerov who approves sanctions against the alleged organizers of the Midas scheme – Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Zukerman.
“This is a pure conflict of interest. How is it possible that a person who punishes can be suspected of having ties to those he punishes?” he said.
According to Havrysh, Mindich’s group “are only executors,” and behind them are beneficiaries who could probably influence schemes not only at Energoatom, but also in other key state institutions, such as Naftogaz of Ukraine or the Ministry of Defense.
He emphasized that such activities could not have passed by the SBU, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Foreign Intelligence Service.
Havrysh said that information in the case had been accumulating for 15 months, and the authorities allegedly tried to stop the investigation.
