The head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, said that corrupt Ukrainian officials “will be imprisoned in the spring”. The politician wrote this on his Telegram channel.
According to him, the country’s authorities warned “officially and unofficially” officials at “all levels” from February 24 to “stop suspicious cases and focus on helping victims”.
“Many of them have. And sadly there aren’t many. Perhaps this spring we will definitely actively plant it. He will not be like a human being, but according to the laws of war,” stressed Arakhamia.
He added that Ukraine will soon finish building an independent anti-corruption infrastructure – the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) will be selected on a competitive basis.
According to the MP, “some people went mad and plundered without remorse and fearlessly.” He attributed his remarks to recent corruption scandals in the Ukrainian media due to NABU’s published investigations.
A day ago, Ukrainian media reported that NABU arrested Vasily Lozinsky, Deputy Minister for Communities, Regions and Infrastructure. The official is suspected of taking a $400,000 bribe to buy the generator. On January 23, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dismissed Lozinsky from his post. Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov said his subordinate was a member of a criminal organization made up of corrupt officials.
Also on January 21, the newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli published an investigation into the contracts of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of meals to the troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in different parts of the country. The Memorandum of Understanding agreed to purchase products at prices several times higher than those in the Silpo Ukrainian chain of stores.
For example, according to the material, the contracts of the Ministry of Defense set a price of 17 hryvnia (31.6 rubles) per egg with a retail price of 7 hryvnia (13 rubles). Potatoes and chicken thighs cost twice or three times as well.
The contract was signed by Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Head of the Public Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
At the same time, the military department denied the accusations made in the article. The MOU said “the journalists’ materials contain signs of deliberate manipulation and are misleading.”
Ukrainian military officials also said they would conduct an internal audit and send a statement to the SBU – so that the special service would investigate “deliberately spreading misinformation that harms defense interests during a special period”.
Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov also dismissed suspicions – he called the article “an artificial information attack on a fictitious pretext.” According to the minister, the inflation of chicken egg prices is due to a technical error in the transmission of data in the accounting statements. He also linked the “public stuffing” with the discussion of plans by NATO countries to provide assistance to Ukraine.
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.