German Galushchenko #

Introduction #

German Galushchenko, also romanised as Herman Halushchenko, is a Ukrainian lawyer and independent politician who served as Minister of Energy of Ukraine from April 29, 2021, to July 17, 2025, and then as Minister of Justice from July 17, 2025, until the Verkhovna Rada dismissed him on November 19, 2025. His fall came through Operation Midas, the investigation by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) into an alleged kickback and money-laundering network worth up to $100 million centred on the state nuclear operator Energoatom: on November 12, 2025, the cabinet of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko removed him from his duties as justice minister, and he resigned later the same day.

Background Information #

Born in Lviv on May 1, 1973, Galushchenko is a University of Lviv-trained lawyer who since 2012 has taught private international law at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Earlier in his career he worked at Energoatom itself. The Rada appointed him energy minister on April 29, 2021, with 305 deputies in favour. In that portfolio he oversaw the emergency decoupling of Ukraine’s power grid from Russia and Belarus after the February 2022 invasion and its connection to the continental European grid. On July 17, 2025, he moved to the justice ministry in Svyrydenko’s government, succeeding Olha Stefanishyna. As energy minister he had already been accused of non-transparent personnel appointments, corruption and growing influence over the sector, and in August 2024 NABU caught his deputy, Oleksandr Heilo, receiving a $500,000 bribe.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the SAPO prosecutor’s special anti-corruption investigation known as Operation Midas. Galushchenko has not been convicted: at the time of writing the case remains before the courts, and nothing alleged has been adjudicated. He has not admitted wrongdoing; he backed his suspension as a civilised and correct course of action and said he intends to defend himself through legal means.

In early November 2025, NABU and SAPO announced they had uncovered a “large-scale” scheme worth up to $100 million, with laundering operations running through an office in Kyiv and five people already detained; local media including Ukrainska Pravda reported that premises linked to Galushchenko were searched in the raids. According to NABU’s account, firms seeking Energoatom contracts were forced to pay kickbacks of 10-15% of their value — a levy participants called the “barrier” — and the money was allegedly funnelled through shell businesses and a central-Kyiv “back office”; investigators say the network was orchestrated by businessman Tymur Mindich, alias “Karlson,” a former co-owner of Zelenskyy’s television company Kvartal 95, who left Ukraine hours before the raids began. NABU released recordings of coded conversations in which Galushchenko, under the nicknames “Professor” and “Hera,” allegedly discussed payments, contracts and bribes with Mindich and other suspects; at a detention hearing for suspect Ihor Myroniuk, prosecutors claimed Mindich had leveraged his proximity to Zelenskyy to secure protection from Galushchenko and other ministers. On November 11 the agencies also implicated a former deputy prime minister, codenamed “Che Guevara” and identified in the reporting as Oleksiy Chernyshov, alleging that members of the group transferred $1.2 million and nearly €100,000 in cash to him.

The next morning an extraordinary cabinet meeting stripped Galushchenko of his duties. “This morning, an extraordinary meeting of the government was held. A decision was made to remove German Galushchenko from the duties of the minister of justice. By the decision of the government, the duties of the minister were assigned to the deputy minister of justice for European integration, Lyudmila Sugak,” Svyrydenko said in the statement. Galushchenko did not resist: he said he supported the suspension while the investigation ran its course, calling it a “civilised and correct course of action,” and that he intended to defend himself through legal means and present his position once the inquiry concluded.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Allegations. The Operation Midas claims above come from NABU and SAPO investigations, not from any court finding; Galushchenko left office without any adjudication against him.

The suspensions escalated within hours: Galushchenko resigned later on November 12 alongside energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, and on November 19, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada formally dismissed him as justice minister, with 323 people’s deputies voting for his removal. The case landed as Kyiv’s anti-corruption drive — a key condition for progress in EU accession talks and continued Western financial support — faced intense scrutiny, and the energy sector, critical to Ukraine’s wartime economy, had long been seen as vulnerable to graft. “After months of intensifying pressure against the anti-corruption agencies (seen as agents of foreign influence by much of the country’s leadership), the searches represent a strike that lands very close to Zelensky personally,” commented Timothy Ash, associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House and senior sovereign strategist at RBC Bluebay Asset Management in London.

Current Status #

Per Wikipedia’s account of the court record, Galushchenko was arrested on February 15, 2026, attempting to flee Ukraine on a train bound for Warsaw, and was charged with money laundering and involvement in a criminal group, then on February 16 with participating in a criminal organisation and laundering proceeds obtained by criminal means. NABU alleges that he and members of his family became investors in a fictitious investment fund created to launder the $100 million siphoned out of Energoatom. Also on February 16, the High Anti-Corruption Court partially upheld his complaint of “unlawful detention” but left him in custody, ordering that he be held for 60 days with bail set at UAH 200 million. These are charges and procedural orders, not convictions: Galushchenko has not been tried, and the presumption of innocence applies.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

In a week, Galushchenko went from holding the justice ministry to being a suspect in Operation Midas, described by Novinite as one of Ukraine’s most significant recent anti-corruption cases. The record of his four years overseeing the wartime grid now competes with the alleged codenames “Professor” and “Hera” in NABU’s tapes, and his departure from the cabinet was formalised by a 323-vote parliamentary dismissal before his arrest and detention. He remains in custody, and nothing alleged against him has been adjudicated in court.