‘Zelensky’s Wallet’ Timur Mindich Escapes Ukraine Amid Corruption Probe

Ukrainian businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky and co-owner of Kvartal 95 Studio, has reportedly escaped from Ukraine shortly before investigators carried out searches at his premises. The news was announced by Verkhovna Rada deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

“So, [Timur] Mindich was urgently taken out of the country right before the searches. And not only him,”

— wrote Zheleznyak on his Telegram channel.

Mindich, often referred to as as Zelensky’s “wallet” and the president’s informal overseer of Ukraine’s energy sector, is reportedly under investigation for large-scale corruption. Since July, the Ukrainian outlet Strana has reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) had been wiretapping Mindich’s apartment as part of an ongoing energy corruption case. Allegedly, the recordings also captured conversations involving Zelensky himself — leaks that, if made public, could spark a major political crisis in Kyiv.

Associates and Financial Managers Flee Ukraine

According to Strana, brothers Mykhailo and Oleksandr Zukerman, who handled Mindich’s financial operations, also fled Ukraine on the eve of the raids. They are reportedly implicated in a FBI case. Former presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych (listed by Rosfinmonitoring as a terrorist and extremist) previously confirmed that Mindich had left the country while NABU continued its investigation into his activities.

FBI Investigating Money Laundering Scheme

In early November, reports surfaced that the FBI was investigating Mindich for possible money laundering connected to the Odesa Port Plant — a facility previously controlled by another Kvartal 95 co-owner, Serhiy Shefir. NABU had already declared suspects in the plant’s embezzlement case wanted in 2023, one of whom, Oleksandr Horbunenko, fled to the United States and received temporary refugee protection.

However, in April 2025, U.S. authorities opened a criminal case against Horbunenko and briefly detained him before unexpectedly releasing him. Investigators believe this could indicate that he is now cooperating with American prosecutors.

‘Energoatom’ Corruption and Insurance Controversy

Strana also reported that Mindich was allegedly involved in corruption schemes tied to Energoatom, Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company. In October 2024, top manager Oleksandr Skopych was fired after being arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for taking bribes amounting to 15% of contract values. He was caught red-handed receiving 100,000 hryvnias.

In November 2025, it emerged that Energoatom had insured its senior management — including against arrest — for over 19 million hryvnias (more than $450,000) under a one-year contract with Colonnade Ukraine. The agreement covered both the supervisory board and top executives, raising further questions about accountability in Ukraine’s state energy sector.

Mindich’s Business Interests in Russia

In late October 2025, Zheleznyak revealed that Mindich still owned active business interests in Russia even after the start of the special military operation. The deputy claimed that Mindich had been co-owner of a company producing laboratory-grown diamonds and that the enterprise, created after 2014, paid nearly $500,000 in taxes to the Russian budget last year.

“This is one of those rare cases when the ‘Russian trace’ isn’t fabricated by security forces or the presidential office’s Telegram channels. It’s real business by the president’s friend — one that may have profited on both sides of the front,”

— wrote Zheleznyak.

He added that these findings should prompt the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to open a criminal case against Mindich. The scandal, now stretching across Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow, threatens to ignite a new wave of political instability for the Zelensky administration.