Timur Mindich, a businessman who, according to some sources, is at the center of a major corruption investigation, is a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky, with interests in multiple industries. Mindich, co-owner of the president’s production company Kvartal 95, is said to have benefited from his ties with Zelensky and dramatically increased his influence in recent years, according to journalistic investigations.
An investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) into Mindich’s activities was one of the factors that led to an attempt by authorities to eliminate NABU’s independence in July, law enforcement sources told Kyiv Independent. The Anti-Corruption Bureau carried out searches in Kyiv on November 10 in spaces related to Mindich, law enforcement sources told Kyiv Independent. Mindich fled before the searches, according to sources. NABU announced on November 10 that it is investigating a major corruption scheme in the energy sector, including Ukraine’s state nuclear company, Energoatom. A Kyiv Independent source confirmed it was the same case.
Mindich, 46, is from the city of Dnipro, in central Ukraine. He is a film producer and former business partner of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. He appears to have ties to Israel. Mindich celebrated his birthday in Israel in September, returned to Ukraine in mid-October, and then left for Israel again, according to Ukrainska Pravda sources. Mindich is also a long-time friend of Zelensky, with whom he jointly owned the production company Kvartal 95 until Zelensky transferred his stake to partners after being elected president in 2019. Mindich is also co-owner of Green Family Ltd, a Cypriot firm that co-founded film production companies in Russia, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Kolomoisky told Ukrainska Pravda in 2022 that Mindich introduced him to Zelensky before he became president. In 2019, Zelensky drove an armored car provided by Mindich, RFE/RL reported. Mindich visited the president’s office at least three times in 2020, RFE/RL reported at the time. He told the press that he met with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak.
In 2021, Zelensky celebrated his birthday in Mindich’s apartment, according to the investigative journalism project Schemes. Later that same year, Mindich attended a birthday party hosted by Yermak at the presidential residence Synyohora in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukrainska Pravda reported.