"Mindichgate": court rejects Chernyshov’s appeal against preventive measure

The Appeal Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has partially dismissed an appeal against the preventive measure imposed on former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, who is suspected of illegal enrichment.

This was reported from the courtroom by Suspilne, Censor.NET notes.

Court rejects appeal

The Appeal Chamber left the preventive measure unchanged: custody until 16 January 2026, with the option of release on bail set at 51 million hryvnias.

The court only allowed Chernyshov’s Ukrainian passport to be returned to him. His foreign passport is to remain seized by the state.

At the hearing, Chernyshov’s lawyers argued that the motion did not properly substantiate the risks cited. They also stressed that Chernyshov cannot travel abroad because he has surrendered his foreign passports. The investigating judge maintained that the former minister could leave the country using his ID card, to which the defence replied that he does not have such a document.

The defence also pointed out that the amount of bail set by the court is 213 times higher than his declared income.

What the prosecutor said

During the hearing, the prosecutor urged the court to reject the appeals lodged by Chernyshov and his defence, insisting that the suspicion is well-founded.

She underscored the risks of absconding and the possibility of destroying or tampering with documents, citing the results of covert investigative actions. According to her, these circumstances confirm the need to keep the current measure of restraint in place.

As a reminder, on 19 November, bail of 51 million hryvnias was posted for former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, who is suspected of illegal enrichment.
The bail for former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, who is suspected of illegal enrichment, was posted by Andrii Protsyk and Iryna Fedorovych.

Mindichgate

Earlier, Censor.NET reported that NABU was conducting searches at Mindich's residence, who left Ukraine a few hours before the searches.
As reported, on Tuesday, 4 November, searches were conducted in one of the branches of the separate divisions of NNEGC "Energoatom" in connection with a corruption case.
The NABU is also conducting searches at the home of former Energy Minister Halushchenko and at "Energoatom".
The NABU and the SAPO announced a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector.
Current Minister of Energy Svitlana Hrynchuk appears on recordings obtained by NABU as part of its investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
Later, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau uncovered an office in central Kyiv belonging to the family of former MP and current Russian senator Andrii Derkach, where a "black ledger" was kept, cash was tracked, and money-laundering operations were organized.
On 11 November, NABU released recordings featuring Minister Halushchenko and Mindich.
Chernyshova has been served with a notice of suspicion of illicit enrichment under Operation "Midas."
One of the suspects, Dmytro Basov, was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 40 million.
Halushchenko's former adviser Myroniuk was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 126 million.
The Cabinet of Ministers has submitted proposals to the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to impose personal sanctions against Tymur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman following an NABU investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
Earlier, Ihor Myroniuk and Energoatom’s executive director for security, Dmytro Basov, featured on the NABU tapes under the alias "Tenor", were remanded in custody for 60 days.
Another suspect, Lesia Ustymenko, was also placed in pre-trial detention for 60 days.
The High Anti-Corruption Court has ruled on a preventive measure for Ihor Fursenko, a suspect in an energy-sector corruption case (known on the NABU tapes as "Roshyk").
On 13 November, the High Anti-Corruption Court arrested Liudmyla Zorina, with bail set at 12 million hryvnia.
Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Mindich and Tsukerman.