A deputy, district and city military directors as well as soldiers of the National Guard are involved in this scandal which makes a big noise in Ukraine.
The Ukraine National Anti -corruption office (NABU) and the Privacy Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) revealed, this Saturday, August 2, a large -scale corruption scandal in the acquisition of drones and electronic warfare equipment. The police have already arrested four people as part of this case, according to the Channel television channel 24.
According to the elements provided by the services concerned, the persons involved are a deputy, of the military directors of the district and the city, as well as the military of the National Guard. According to the Minister of the Interior, Igor Klimenko, the alleged members of the National Guard were suspended from their functions. An internal investigation was opened against them.
According to sources from the newspaper “Ukrainian Truth”, the deputy of the ruling party, Oleksiy Kuznetsov, is one of those arrested.
Inflated prices to divert significant sums
The stratagem was to conclude state contracts with suppliers at deliberately inflated prices. Up to 30 % of the amount of these contracts was recovered in the form of illegal advantages.
The Ukrainian media indicated that this operation was made possible thanks to the Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian President on an anti-corruption law.
In recent days, thousands of Ukrainians had demonstrated in a rare demonstration of dissatisfaction, after deputies of the Volodymyr Zelensky party had inherently adopted these agencies, on July 22,.
The Ukrainian president backtived after the outcry and under pressure from senior European officials, who warned that the country endorse his candidacy for EU membership by limiting the powers of his anti-corruption agencies.
A controversial law
Finally, on July 31, Zelensky had promulgated a new law ensuring that it guaranteed “the absence of any type of influence or external interference”. “Ukraine is a democracy, there is absolutely no doubt,” added Volodymyr Zelensky in a message on Telegram.
This law eliminated “a number of obstacles in the work of corruption organizations”. “She contributed to the stability of their activities in sensitive state surveys,” said the two services this Saturday.
Opponents of the initial project believed that it was designed to protect the political allies of the president of legal proceedings.
The eradication of corruption and the strengthening of the rule of law in Ukraine are essential conditions for the membership of Kyiv to the EU, which the Ukrainians consider as decisive for their future when they try to repel the Russian invasion.
