Hrynchuk denies outside influence on her work as Ukrainian energy minister
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, who is a defendant in the Midas Operation being investigated by the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), has denied that her work at the Ministry of Energy was influenced by outsiders.
"No one had any influence on my decision-making as Minister of Energy," she said at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada’s energy committee on Friday, where the Ukrainian Prime Minister’s motion for her dismissal and Hrynchuk’s own corresponding statement are being considered.
She also denied that she had an interview with another defendant, Ihor Myroniuk, before being appointed as the head of the Ministry of Energy.
"I had an interview with the Prime Minister only before being appointed. No one ever conducted such interviews with me. Whether I know Myroniuk or not is irrelevant," Hrynchuk said.
"The president, the state leadership, and my colleagues in the government knew me from my work, so there were no questions about me when the prime minister proposed me for the position. I am not familiar with most of the people involved in the recordings, and those I do know had no influence on my work. If law enforcement agencies decide that I made this or that decision under the influence of some person, I am ready to answer for it. But no claims have been made against me. I hope there will be none. I did my job honestly and within the law," the energy minister said.
According to her, she was not searched as part of the investigation, and she did not visit the office of the organization where the people involved in the case gathered.