Halushchenko’s suspension: will it ease the tension around the energy scandal
12 November 2025 13:24
ANALYSIS 
After the large-scale anti-corruption operation Midas, the government decided to remove Herman Halushchenko from his post as Minister of Justice. However, experts doubt that this personnel decision alone will be enough to stabilize the situation and restore trust, both within the country and among international partners.
Why did the government suspend Galushchenko?
On November 12, the Cabinet of Ministers suspended Herman Galushchenko from his duties as Minister of Justice.
According to the Cabinet’s decision, Deputy Minister of Justice for European Integration Liudmyla Suhak will perform the minister’s duties.
The decision to suspend Sugak was made after the NABU and the SAPO launched a large-scale anti-corruption operation called Midas. Investigators believe that high-ranking officials, including former representatives of the Ministry of Energy, may be involved in the scheme to launder about $100 million in the energy sector.
on November 10, anti-corruption authorities announced that they were investigating illegal money laundering through the office of former MP and now Russian Senator Andriy Derkach.
The prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said that businessman Timur Mindich had influenced a number of high-ranking officials, including then-Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko (later Minister of Justice) and former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who is now the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
Herman Galushchenko’s reaction
Halushchenko himself has already commented on his suspension. He confirmed that he had talked to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and agreed to the government’s political decision.
“I completely agree: we need to make a political decision, and only then deal with the details,” the former minister wrote on social media.
He added that he is not holding on to his position and considers his suspension for the duration of the investigation “a civilized and correct step.”
“I am not holding on to my position as minister and will not hold on to it. I believe that suspension for the duration of the investigation is a civilized and correct scenario. I will defend myself legally and prove my position,” Galushchenko said.
The right step, but not decisive
Political analyst Oleg Lisnyi in a commentary
“I think this is the right step. I doubt whether it will allow us to get out of the crisis right now, because the crisis is now very heated in the media. But we need to understand that such cases are not resolved quickly, and they are definitely not resolved in the newspapers, but in a fair court,” the expert said.
According to Lisnyi, it is important for Ukrainian society and Ukraine’s international partners not only to see the government’s response to corruption scandals, but also to get a transparent outcome – a court decision or public results of the investigation.
“The main thing here is that in this situation, it is very important for both our partners and Ukrainian citizens that there is a logical conclusion to these actions. Because very often it happens that it is not promoted in the media, there is a lot of talk about it, but there are no results. Or they are delayed in time and then simply derailed by other information reasons,” the political scientist emphasizes.
In his opinion, the effectiveness of the government’s response will be assessed not by speed, but by results. That is why the main thing now is to prevent the Midas case from turning into another short-term scandal that will end without concrete conclusions.
The expert is convinced that Ukraine’s international allies are also paying attention to the government’s actions, and transparency and the rule of law remain key conditions for their support.
“Therefore, it is very important how this case will end. And then it will be a significant factor for us and our partners, who, I think, are also watching what is happening in Ukraine,” emphasized Lisnyi.
Minister’s dismissal will not change the situation in the energy sector
Energy expert Hennadiy Ryabtsev in a commentary
“In fact, the presence or absence of a minister does not affect the functioning of the energy sector in any way. And what difference does it make who will hold meetings and convene those meetings? Because the energy sector is not guided by meetings. In fact, the minister organizes policy making, not checking the availability of stocks in warehouses or underground storage facilities,” the expert said.
According to Ryabtsev, the energy sector functions regardless of the names in the ministerial offices. The main task of the minister is not operational management or restoration of infrastructure, but the formation of a policy for the development of the industry, which, in his opinion, the Ministry of Energy has long been failing to do.
“It is not the minister who restores energy facilities. Frankly speaking, even if the Ministry did not exist, I don’t think anything would have changed in the energy sector today. Because, in fact, the Ministry of Energy does not cope with its function of formulating the policy of development of the fuel and energy complex easily,” the expert noted.
“The Ministry of Energy does not fulfill its basic functions”
Ryabtsev emphasizes: The Ministry of Energy is not fulfilling its basic responsibilities – policy-making and development of regulatory documents necessary to stabilize the market.
“It takes credit for the energy sector and shifts the responsibility for all the problems to someone else. That’s all,” he explains.
Among the examples, the expert cites the resolution to reduce the list of protected consumers, without which it is impossible to solve the debt problem in the balancing market. According to him, this document has not been developed for more than two and a half years.
“What should have been done, for example, was a resolution developed by the Ministry, a resolution to reduce the list of protected consumers. To be more precise, it was called differently, but the essence is the same. Without this resolution, it is impossible to solve the debt problem in the balancing market. It is simply impossible. And it’s been two and a half years since the government has been able to develop a draft resolution,” the expert said.
According to Ryabtsev, instead of engaging in reforms and solving systemic problems, the Ministry of Energy focuses on declarative projects that have no practical value in wartime.
“Similarly, there are a huge number of documents that the Ministry of Energy should have been developing, but instead it is developing a hydrogen strategy, a map of possible locations for electric stations, and all sorts of things like that,” the expert notes.
“The crisis is not solved by personnel changes”
Thus, according to Ryabtsev, the minister’s dismissal will not affect the state of the energy sector, as the problems lie not in specific individuals, but in an inefficient management system and lack of strategic decisions.
“To be honest, even if the Ministry did not exist, I don’t think anything would have changed in the energy sector today,” the expert concluded.
The issue is not only in officials, but in the system
Political scientist, director of the Institute of World Policy Yevhen Magda in a commentary
In his opinion, the government should make systemic political decisions, as society expects answers, first of all, as to where the money was actually going in the energy sector.
“I think that the dismissal of the Minister of Justice, first of all, is not enough, although he has sufficient contacts with the Minister of Energy. No, only appropriate political decisions can be enough, because a lot of people are wondering where all this money was going, except to Russia,” Magda emphasizes.
Magda compared the behavior of some officials to the “sandbox principle” – when the authorities try to “rake up as much sand as possible” and inevitably touch the “dirt”.
“And, you know, this is a situation that I have warned about more than once. This is the principle of sandiness, that when you rake as much sand as possible, in Ukrainian realities, the chances of touching cat or dog shit, excuse me, they increase. That’s what happened,” he explained.
The political analyst called the current defendants in the scandal “anti-Midas” – in contrast to the legendary king who turned everything into gold.
“Only here there are Midases, only they are anti-Midases,” Magda added.
Energy as an object of speculation
According to the expert, nuclear energy is the basis of Ukraine’s energy security, but its use for private interests has become a dangerous trend.
“They used the exploitation and speculation and use of nuclear energy for their own interests, and it is currently the basis of our energy security. And the fact that they ignored the construction of protective structures at transformer substations can cost us a lot in the near future,” Magda warns.
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“New faces” are just words
The political scientist also draws attention to the gap between rhetoric and reality that has been observed in the government since 2019.
“Accordingly, I don’t know, the government has been talking about some new faces since ’19. So show us the new faces, the new quality. So far, it all resembles the situation I have already seen during Ukraine without Kuchma, during the Revolution of Dignity, during other things,” the expert says.
Magda is convinced that the government is repeating old political scenarios, and the hope to “put the brakes on the situation” in wartime is misguided.
“This is actually a remake of the old methods. And those who think that just because it’s a war, it will be possible to put the brakes on everything, I think, are deeply mistaken,” the expert concluded.
Analysts agree that Halushchenko’s dismissal is only the beginning, but not the end of the crisis. What will be decisive is not the personnel renewal, but the transparency of the investigation, real consequences for those involved, and a demonstration of political will to clean up the system.
Without this, loud statements about the fight against corruption risk remaining just information noise.
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