The Ukrainian president launched a tirade against corruption in his country on Sunday night, since several accusations have been launched against members of the government in recent days. “The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers has fired a deputy minister who has been exposed” by the National Anti-Corruption Office of Ukraine (NABU), Volodymy Zelensky said on his Facebook page.
A senior Ukrainian ministerial official, suspected of embezzlement, was fired this weekend. At the same time, an internal audit was launched at the Ministry of Defense following press disclosures about an alleged contract signed at an inflated price.
With these cases, the Ukrainian president wants to send a “signal to all those whose acts or behaviors violate the principle of justice.”
Volodymyr Zelensky assured that “this week will be the time to take the appropriate decisions” and that “the state will take the necessary powerful measures” to end corruption in Ukraine.
A fired deputy minister
On Saturday, the NABU arrested Vasyl Lozynkiï, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Community, Land and Infrastructure Development, on suspicion of embezzlement. In office since May 2020, he reportedly received $400,000 “to facilitate the conclusion of contracts for the purchase of equipment and generators at inflated prices,” the NABU said in a press release.
The arrest is part of a broader investigation targeting what is referred to as an “organized crime group” in the statement. Therefore, various other officials are suspected of having appropriated “part of state funds”, normally intended to “provide the population with alternative sources of light, heat and water supply during the winter period”.
And this while Ukraine is grappling with electricity shortages following Russian attacks on its power facilities in the dead of winter.
Defendant Minister of Defense
In another case of alleged corruption, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry ordered an “internal audit” to be launched on Sunday and an “emergency meeting” to be held on Monday around Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov to shed light on possible inflated contracts. for the ministry.
On Saturday, news reports in the national media accused the Ukrainian ministry of having signed an overpriced contract on food products for its soldiers. According to the news site ZN.UA., the signed contract in question, by 2023, would be for 13 billion hryvnias, or just over 350 million dollars at current exchange rates, with prices set “two to three times higher” than the current ones. current tariffs for basic food products.
Oleksiy Reznikov denied the facts and, according to the same outlet, will remain in his position during the investigation.
“In case of detection of violations in the activities of Defense Ministry officials, they will be held liable in accordance with the applicable law,” the Ukrainian ministry said in a statement. “The ministry buys the corresponding products in accordance with the procedure established by law,” he stressed, however, judging the information disseminated in the press “false” and “misleading.”
“These are disseminated with the intention of deliberately manipulating” and “harming the interests of the defense during a special period,” he criticized, recalling once again that “controls are carried out” on the signed contracts.
“Ukraine is riddled with corruption”
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country was already known for its corruption problems. According to data from the NGO Transparency International, dating from 2021, 23% of users of public services in Ukraine had paid a bribe in the last 12 months. The country was ranked 122 out of 180 in the Corruption Perceptions Index.
“Ukraine has been plagued by corruption, including grand corruption, for many years,” the European Court of Auditors wrote, also in 2021.
But the European Union has made anti-corruption reforms one of its main requirements for accepting Ukraine’s membership application. The billions of euros granted to Kyiv to help it rebuild its country in the midst of the war and to keep the Ukrainian national budget afloat, are accompanied by demands in this regard.
“The EU needs to be sure that the 18 billion euros will be properly used by Ukraine,” Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanichyna explained to the Ukrainian site Eurointegration.com, specifying that its conditions include in particular issues related to the “rule of law”. and the fight against corruption.
“I want to make it clear: there will be no return to what was in the past,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
Source: BFM TV
