Year of Bihus.Info investigations into "Mindichgate": How associates of Yermak, Chernyshov and Mindich hid wealth during war
Investigative journalists from Bihus.Info have published a summary of a year of investigations into the large-scale Midas corruption scandal (Mindichgate). Their reports on the development of the elite Dynasty cottage community in Kozyn helped law enforcement expose a criminal group involving former officials, MPs and business partners of the presidential inner circle, as well as uncover schemes to conceal assets.
This was reported by Censor.NET.
Chernyshov, Mindich and Dynasty cottage community
A Bihus.Info investigation first documented the construction of an elite eight-hectare estate on a riverbank near Kyiv in July 2024.
The journalists recalled that in the summer of 2025, NABU served the first notice of suspicion on then Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov over a bribe in the form of discounts on apartments. According to the authors of the investigation, this case produced the names that later helped link Chernyshov to the large-scale construction of the Dynasty cottage community near Kyiv. Chernyshov was searched in the autumn of 2025, and NABU and SAPO soon announced that they had uncovered Operation Midas — a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector that investigators linked to businessman Timur Mindich. Anti-corruption agencies later released recordings of conversations between those involved, which revealed, among other things, that corrupt proceeds had been invested in the construction of Dynasty.
Transcripts from the case files also contain references to former Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak.
Sand from cemetery and criminal proceedings against Ukrainka mayor
A separate episode of the investigation concerns Oleksandr Turenko, Mayor of Ukrainka. The journalists recalled a long-running story from 2022 involving the illegal extraction of sand on cemetery grounds. Based on its identifying features, the machinery documented by law enforcement at the time appeared to belong to Turenko.
Although the case had no consequences at the time, the mayor was eventually notified of suspicion in June this year, albeit in a different episode involving the seizure of land through front persons and the embezzlement of budget funds. The journalists also recalled Turenko’s unilateral approval of the city’s master plan, which had failed for years to secure enough votes from council members because comments from the public and the Environment Ministry had not been addressed. After the investigation was published, police opened proceedings over possible abuse of office by the mayor in connection with the decision.
Financial Monitoring Service head Pronin and foreign business trips
The journalists also examined the work of Filip Pronin, who has headed the State Financial Monitoring Service since December 2024.
Pronin failed to appear at meetings of the parliamentary Temporary Investigative Commission investigating the Midas case, citing sick leave, after which he went on foreign business trips. These included a trip to Tanzania for an Egmont Group meeting that officially lasted four days, while Pronin’s business trip lasted 11 days. According to the journalists’ calculations, the head of the Financial Monitoring Service spent more than 70 days on foreign business trips during his first year in office, excluding holidays and sick leave.
Energoatom top manager and cottage near Kyiv
Another episode concerns Taras Tkach, who headed one of Energoatom’s key areas of operation for a long time and served as Director General of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant until June this year.
According to his official declaration, Tkach owns an old apartment, a car and a plot of land. However, according to the journalists, the top manager’s family also acquired a penthouse in a newly built residential complex in the capital and a collection of cars, and constructed a mansion in an elite cottage community near Kyiv. The publication estimated its value at hundreds of thousands of dollars, although these amounts were not properly reflected in the declarations given actual property prices in the area.
Serhii Shefir: Assets and divorce ahead of notices of suspicion
The journalists also reported on Serhii Shefir, a long-time friend and business partner of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his former First Assistant.
According to the investigation, Shefir’s family owns property in Kyiv, commercial premises and assets abroad, including in Prague. According to the journalists, the Operation Midas files also mention Shefir himself in the context of financial arrangements with other individuals involved.
After NABU searched MP Yurii Kysiel in late December 2025, Serhii Shefir and his wife Larysa concluded a property division agreement on 6 January 2026. Under the agreement, most of the luxury assets (an apartment in Chicago Central House, plots in Riviera Village and property in the Czech Republic) were transferred to his wife. This may have been an attempt to protect the property from potential seizure.
Businessman Ihor Khmelov’s hidden assets in the Carpathians
The journalists separately reported on businessman Ihor Khmelov, a long-time partner of Mindich who, according to the publication, is linked to Fire Point, a manufacturer of long-range drones and missiles.
According to the investigation, a company associated with Khmelov registered about nine hectares of land over several years in the village of Yablunytsia near Bukovel, where a hotel, restaurant and glamping site operate and a new leisure complex is under construction. The journalists noted that on the morning of 10 November, when NABU searched Mindich’s premises, Mindich himself managed to leave the country several hours before the detectives arrived. Khmelov also left the country that same day. In the following weeks, according to the publication, Khmelov withdrew from almost all the entities he co-owned, transferring the assets to third parties.
Saving houses in Kozyn through asset seizure
Finally, Bihus.Info described a story that it called an example of a positive outcome from its investigation.
- It concerns a cottage community in Kozyn where, according to investigators, some of the houses were registered to Lisovyi Kvartal. Its co-founders, Liliia Lysenko and Hennadii Opalchuk, were notified of suspicion in the Dynasty case because investigators believe that more than UAH 50 million in financing for the construction of mansions for Chernyshov, Mindich and Yermak was channelled through them. A court froze the suspects’ property and corporate rights in the company, but the houses themselves remained unfrozen for a long time and, according to the journalists, were even offered for sale.
- After the investigation was published, the court also froze the Lisovyi Kvartal houses in proportion to Lysenko and Opalchuk’s stakes in the company.
