Zelensky Accepts Widespread Financial Corruption in Ukraine.
On Sunday, the President of Ukraine, acknowledging the existence of widespread corruption in his country, announced that corruption is a chronic problem in Ukraine, and after the war against Russia, this problem has been placed in the background of Ukraine’s issues and will never be tolerated.
Zelenskiy also promised to take key decisions to root out corruption. Zelenskiy’s commitment to fight corruption comes amid allegations of corruption at the highest levels of his administration. Including the report of suspicious actions in military procurement, which was accompanied by some large-scale financial corruption.
“I want to make it clear that there will be no return to the way things were in the past, to the lifestyle of various people close to government institutions or those who have spent their whole lives chasing a seat,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine has a long history of widespread corruption and shaky governance, with Transparency International ranking the country 122nd out of 180 countries in the world, not much better than Russia in 2021.
The European Union also made anti-corruption reforms one of its main requirements for Ukraine’s membership after it granted candidate status to Kyiv last year. “This week will be the right decision time,” Zelensky said. Decisions are already made. “I don’t want to make them public right now, but everything will be fair.”
Zelensky, who was re-elected in 2019 with a pledge to change the way Ukraine was run as a satellite state of the former Soviet Union, said his government had accepted the deputy minister’s resignation after an investigation into bribery allegations. He did not reveal the identity of this official, but news reports indicate that Vasil Luzinsky, the acting deputy minister of regional development, has been arrested on charges of accepting bribes.
After a newspaper reported that the Ukrainian military had apparently supplied food to its troops at exorbitant prices, there was a renewed focus on corruption, including the performance of Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov. Reznikov’s ministry described the allegations as false and has asked a parliamentary committee to investigate the matter.
