KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian anti -corruption agencies said on Saturday that it had discovered a vast corruption system that made it possible to buy military drones and signal scrambling systems at excessive prices, two days after restoring their independence.
The Ukrainian government canceled measures adopted a few days earlier on Thursday which weakened the independence of the Ukrainian National Bureau to fight corruption (NABU) and the Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
In a statement, the two agencies said they had discovered that a deputy in office, two local officials and an indefinite number of members of the National Guard had received bribes. None of them were identified in the declaration published on social networks.
“The essence of the system consisted in concluding public contracts with suppliers at deliberately inflated prices” and the offenders received bribes representing up to 30% of the cost of a contract, they said. Four people were arrested.
“There can only be a zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to denounce corruption and, as a result, a fair conviction,” said Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky on the Telegram application.
The Ukrainian Head of State, which has extended presidential powers due to the war on its territory and still enjoys a large approval among the Ukrainians, was forced to a rare political flip-flop after its decision to adopt a law undermining the independence of the agencies to combat corruption has pushed hundreds of demonstrators to descend in the streets.
In response, Volodimir Zelensky undertook to guarantee the independence of Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies, a decision welcomed by the European Union, whose financial aid in Kyiv is partly conditioned to the progress of the fight against corruption.
(Written by Max Hunder; French version Kate Entringer)
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