Corruption in Ukraine, what is happening in the Zelensky government
The fight against corruption in Ukraine continues. Amid ministers and officials being fired or resigning, President Zelensky began his cabinet reshuffle just days before the first anniversary of the start of the war. All the details
In Ukraine, the first important head of government falls. The corruption scandal that recently led to the arrest of Vasyl Lozynski, the former Ukrainian deputy minister for infrastructure development, and many resignations, now sees the departure – in the poetic sense of the term – of the Ukrainian defense minister, Oleksiy Reznnikov.
Although he is not directly under investigation, some of his closest collaborators have been fired or resigned. This is the case of his former deputy Vyacheslav Shapovalov and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, former director of the procurement department, accused of being involved in the purchase of overpriced military rations and substandard bulletproof vests, respectively.
Reznnikov will be replaced shortly by the current head of the Ukrainian intelligence (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov.
And that's just the beginning of the reshuffle.
CHANGE THE MUSIC (AND THE PLAYERS TOO)
So far the Ukrainian government could not be criticized for not undermining the sense of unity and trust needed to resist and fight the war unleashed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24th. But now, a few days before the first anniversary, President Volodymyr Zelensky, aware of the indispensable support of the West to emerge victorious from the conflict and to guarantee a better future for the Ukraine to come, wants to impose a change of pace and show that the the fight against corruption in your country is a serious matter.
"The war requires changes in personnel policy," said David Arakhamia, one of the leaders of the Servant of the People party, the same as the president, on Telegram.
The fight against corruption is "an important dimension of the EU accession process", echoed Ana Pisonero , spokeswoman for the European Commission.
ARRESTS AND INVESTIGATIONS
In addition to the creation of institutions such as the National Anti-Corruption Office and the High Anti-Corruption Court (strongly encouraged by the West), the first sign of the change of course was given with the arrest of the former Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Development, Vasyl Lozynski , caught pocketing a $400,000 bribe to facilitate the purchase of electric generators at far too high prices.
At the same time, news had also broken of investigations at the Defense Ministry , where Reznnikov was said to have signed an agreement to purchase military rations at inflated prices. In reality, it would appear that it was not he himself who was involved but some of his closest collaborators, in fact, one of his deputy ministers was fired and two other senior officials left their posts.
Both corruption and war profiteering scandals prompted Zelensky to embark on a major reshuffle that saw the departure of a number of regional governors, deputy ministers and other officials.
In addition, Ukrainian authorities discovered heaps of cash, as well as watches and luxury cars, during raids carried out across the country last month and among those involved in the investigation, says Cnn , there is also the interim manager of the Kiev tax authority, which was allegedly part of a plan to hide 1.2 billion hryvnias in unpaid taxes.
RESHUFFLE
The political earthquake comes at a particularly crucial moment given that it is feared that Moscow is preparing a new offensive by the end of the month, to symbolically mark the first anniversary of the invasion.
So the reshuffle started. Rezhnnikov will be replaced by Ukraine's intelligence chief, Budanov, a 37-year-old "enigmatic intelligence agent" who has rapidly risen through the ranks, reports Reuters . But the former defense minister nevertheless continues to enjoy the esteem of the president, who – at least according to what Arakhamia declared – would seem to have imagined the position of minister of strategic industries for him, which, however, Reznnikov would refuse due to lack of “necessary skills”.
But other announcements are also expected. According to the Financial Times citing Arakhamia, the current interim Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, appointed following the death in a recent plane crash of Denys Monastyrsky, is expected to be confirmed, as well as Vasyl Malyuk, chosen as interim head of the state security guard (SBU) last July, should become its full-fledged head.
For Arakhamia, "Ukraine's 'force' agencies – such as the Defense Ministry – should not be led by wartime politicians, but by people with a background in defense or security".
Finally, according to Repubblica , the reshuffle "could also concern other ministries – Sport, Energy and Justice – and even Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who could end up in a foreign embassy".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/corruzione-in-ucraina-che-cosa-sta-succedendo-nel-governo-zelensky/ on Mon, 06 Feb 2023 11:00:10 +0000.