Just days after lawmakers restored the independence of the country’s two main investigative bodies, several officials were taken into custody in Ukraine as part of a “large-scale corruption scheme” in the defense sector.
In a joint statement released on Saturday, the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) announced that they had conducted four arrests in connection with the scheme, which involved the purchase of military drones and signal jamming devices.
According to them, “the purpose of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at purposefully exorbitant prices,” adding that the suspects had received kickbacks of up to 30% of the contract amounts.
A sitting lawmaker, two local officials, and an unnamed number of National Guard personnel were among the people who were caught taking bribes, according to NABU and SAPO. In the statement from Saturday, the suspects were not named.
The suspected members of the National Guard were also suspended by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was criticized last month for attempting to oust the anticorruption organizations from his prosecutor-general’s authority.
After Zelenskyy’s decision led to the first anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022, the organizations regained their autonomy.
Zelenskyy, who enjoys far-reaching wartime powers, initially felt the agencies’ inefficiency and “Russian influence” required to be removed.
He then claimed he had heard the complaints of the angry people and filed a bill that restored the agencies’ independence, which was approved by lawmakers on Thursday.
The law passed on Thursday gives anticorruption institutions all the tools they need to succeed in a true fight against corruption, Zelenskyy said.
The about-face was praised by Ukraine’s European allies after concerns were raised about the agencies’ original defanging.
By limiting the authority of Ukraine’s antigraft authorities, top officials had informed Zelenskyy.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply