Following the corruption scandals in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced more decisive action against misconduct in the state apparatus. “Society will get all the information, and the state will take the necessary powerful steps,” Zelenskyy said yesterday in his nightly video message broadcast in Kyiv.
Vice Minister is said to have received a bribe
Among other things, he informed that the detained Deputy Minister for Municipal, Territory and Infrastructure Development Vasyl Lozynskyi had been released.
According to the media, Losynskyj is said to have received a bribe of USD 400,000 (around 368,000 euros) for the purchase of generators to deal with the country’s energy crisis.
Reaction also to overpriced food purchases
With his video message, Zelenskyj also reacted to media reports about the overpriced purchase of food for soldiers. Prices are said to have been paid three times higher than in retail. Here, too, civil servants are said to have enriched themselves. According to official information, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov is to be heard in front of the parliament in Kyiv.
Corruption is a widespread problem in Ukraine, as in many countries of the former Soviet Union, which is why there are repeated fears that aid money from the West will seep away down opaque channels. Many citizens believe that the country’s leadership enriches itself in the course of humanitarian aid through financial aid.
Further decisions announced
Zelenskyi announced decisions for the coming week that have already been taken but have not yet been published to further combat corruption and enrichment in office. “I’m grateful to the journalists who deal with the facts and create the whole picture,” he said of the revelations.
Zelenskyy explained that the main focus is on defending the country in the war against Russia. Nevertheless, he is aware that these cases are also being discussed in society. Action must be taken for the sake of justice.