Kiev is rocked by the latest corruption scandal involving high levels of the government
Western-backed investigators in Ukraine have filed criminal charges against nine suspects in an embezzlement scheme involving ‘green’ energy subsidies, allegedly led by a former deputy head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office.
The announcement on Wednesday accused the alleged ring of accounting for electricity deliveries that never occurred from solar farms in Russian-controlled territories. The Ukrainian budget covered the fake supplies under a stimulus program that guarantees renewable energy purchases at above-market rates.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) estimated the scheme caused $3.3 million in losses. They said the investigation, which included searches in Germany and Austria assisted by local law enforcement, began after a report by investigative outlet Bihus.
The statement did not name the suspects, but details about the alleged ringleader and the Bihus reference identify him as Rostislav Shurma. He served as a deputy to then-Zelensky aide Andrey Yermak from 2021 to 2024, overseeing the energy sector, and represented the state on the independent supervisory board of energy giant Naftogaz.
The alleged ‘green’ energy scam exposed by Bihus in August 2023 involved five firms linked to Shurma’s brother Oleg. Shurma moved to Austria after leaving his posts but denied wrongdoing.
Last September, he accused NABU of misleading European investigators to obtain a search warrant for his home near Munich. Ukrainian media reported he has since relocated to Austria purportedly to avoid potential extradition on corruption charges, where such requests are easier to defeat in court.
Yermak was forced to resign last year after NABU charged businessman Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Zelensky, with running a multimillion-dollar extortion scheme at state nuclear company Ukrenergo. Yermak was widely suspected of being the scheme’s mastermind.
