On Thursday, March 5, the HACC held a hearing to decide whether to extend the pretrial detention of one of the suspects in the high-profile energy corruption case better known as “Midas”—Ihor Myroniuk, a former adviser to the energy minister, nicknamed “Rocket.” 

Following the hearing, the HACC investigating judge extended Myroniuk’s detention for two months but reduced bail to UAH 100 million. 

During the hearing, the prosecutor said that after Myroniuk was formally notified of suspicion and an interim measure was imposed, he allegedly influenced an SSU officer through another suspect in the case, Dmytro Basov. To support this, the prosecutor cited a covert investigative actions report dated December 1, 2025, which, according to the prosecution, indicates pressure on law enforcement officers who, under an investigating judge’s order, were conducting an inspection of a land plot used by Myroniuk and his son. 

Excerpt from the conversation between Korotkyi and Myroniuk

Korotkyi: “Hello, hey.”

Myroniuk: “Hey.”

Korotkyi: “So here’s the situation: they showed up with a court order to inspect the land plot—an inspection, not a search.”

Myroniuk: “Uh-huh.”

Korotkyi: “The case is about the land plot and a decision by the Boryspil village council—it’s very recent. It’s the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, but they came with SSU officers.”

Myroniuk: “Well yeah, of course. Which SSU unit are they from?”

Korotkyi: “Nobody’s introduced themselves yet. Officially, nothing’s started on our end—we just took the order to read it while we waited for the lead prosecutor to show up. He shows up and says…”

Myroniuk: “What’s his last name? He’s from the region?”

Korotkyi: “Yeah, from the region. He came with a surveyor, an expert. They got the order to run a technical land examination. He says, ‘I need to document that there’s a building on site,’ and so on.”

Myroniuk: “So what does he need from us? That doesn’t concern us. If the order doesn’t list some surveyor-expert, he can take a hike.”

Korotkyi: “Honestly, we can just not let them in. Period.”

Myroniuk: “Don’t let them in—no. And I need names. The SSU unit, their names, and the regional prosecutor’s name.”

Korotkyi: “Okay.”

After that, the prosecutor said Myroniuk sent Basov photos of the inspection order, and Basov tried to identify the SSU officer and contact him. Later conversations, the prosecutor argued, suggest they managed to “reach an understanding” with the security service representative.

Basov: “We worked it out (with the SSU officer — ed.) for Monday.”

Myroniuk: “OK. Waiting for the full rundown.”

Basov: “All good—we agreed, backed off.”

As a result, the investigating judge’s order to inspect the plot was not enforced. Such actions are regarded as unlawful influence and obstruction of law enforcement activity, and—according to the prosecution—show a risk of interfering with the investigation. 

The investigation also believes Myroniuk has significant financial resources, including abroad. The prosecutor added that Myroniuk and Basov repeatedly discussed buying companies and corporate rights, including alleged dealings with a company in Hungary with EUR 2 million in turnover. In recorded conversations, Myroniuk also told Basov that he owned a company registered in Slovakia.

Given these circumstances, the prosecutor asked the court to keep the previous interim measure in place and not reduce bail from UAH 126 million.

The defense categorically rejected the prosecution’s evidence, calling it fabricated and artificially stitched together, arguing, for example, that there was “no barrier gate at all” (a reference to the alleged extortion scheme targeting Energoatom contractors). More on that scheme is available in our separate material. 

Defense counsel also said that since the last extension of the interim measure, prosecutors have taken an active media stance by publicly commenting on the case which the defense views as an attempt to shape the information environment around the proceedings.

The defense further disputed the prosecution’s claim that Myroniuk was allegedly an adviser to MP Andrii Derkach, who is charged with high treason, calling it manipulative and aimed solely at giving the case additional publicity. According to the defense, Myroniuk was never Derkach’s adviser; he was Derkach’s assistant-consultant for only two months—from August 11 to November 20, 2009. The defense argued it was inappropriate to cite a fact from 15 years ago as evidence.

Ultimately, the defense asked the court to deny the motion to extend the preventive measure, stating that Myroniuk is effectively held in custody without alternatives because he has no ability to post bail.