The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksiï Reznikov, promised this Sunday internal “audits” within his ministry, after a corruption scandal linked to the supply of the army, in the midst of the Russian invasion. Oleksiï Reznikov admitted during a press conference that the anti-corruption services of his ministry had “failed in their task” and had to be “completely restructured”.
According to him, an “internal audit of all public contracts” has been launched and there will also be “an audit of international technical assistance”, at a time when Kyiv receives more and more Western weapons. Oleksiï Reznikov, however, remained evasive about the possibility of his own resignation, while several Ukrainian media have raised this possibility. He claimed that the decision was up to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Serial resignations and layoffs
Ukraine was rocked at the end of January by a series of resignations and dismissals in the context of a corruption scandal revealed by the press related to a contract signed by the Ministry of Defense for an allegedly overvalued amount and related to food products destined for the soldiers
Several high officials of this ministry have been removed from their posts, while Oleksiï Reznikov had initially denounced “unfounded” accusations. It was the first major corruption case to break out since the start of the Russian offensive, in a country accustomed to this type of business before the war.
The Ukrainian authorities then launched a wave of searches against administrations, officials and public figures to show their desire to make the fight against corruption a priority in the context of the war effort and Western aid.
Source: BFM TV
