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President promises changes to authorities aft reports of corruption astatine defence and infrastructure ministries.
Published On 24 Jan 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said helium volition marque changes to the authorities and information services arsenic portion of a renewed crackdown connected corruption, astir a twelvemonth since Russia invaded the country.
In his nightly video code connected Monday, Zelenskyy did not sanction the officials who would beryllium replaced but indicated the reshuffle was imminent.
“There are already unit decisions — immoderate today, immoderate time — regarding officials of assorted levels successful ministries and different cardinal authorities structures, arsenic good arsenic successful the regions and successful the instrumentality enforcement system,” the president said.
Zelenskyy was elected successful a landslide successful 2019 connected promises to betterment the authorities and tackle corruption, which plagued the state agelong earlier Moscow sent its troops crossed the borderline connected February 24 past year.
Ukraine ranked 122 retired of 180 countries successful Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index successful 2021.
Over the weekend, it emerged that the defence ministry had been buying nutrient for soldiers astatine inflated prices, raising questions astir authorities procurement processes.
On Sunday, anticorruption constabulary said they had detained the lawman infrastructure curate connected suspicion of receiving a $400,000 kickback to facilitate the import of generators into wartime Ukraine past September. The lawman curate was besides removed from his post.
Ukrainian media person reported that a fig of furniture ministers and elder officials could beryllium sacked arsenic Zelenskyy moves to streamline the government.
One of the president’s apical allies earlier said corrupt officials would beryllium “actively” jailed.
Corruption successful Ukraine. There are 2 emerging procurement scandals. Both amusement that corruption is episodic but the civilization displacement to combat it is systemic. This is my presumption arsenic a erstwhile UA system minister. 1/
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) January 22, 2023
Zelenskyy besides announced connected Monday that authorities officials would beryllium banned from making idiosyncratic trips abroad.
The determination followed revelations that Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko had gone connected vacation to Spain successful December and January utilizing a Mercedes belonging to a Lviv businessman. Citing sources successful instrumentality enforcement, online paper Ukrainska Pravda reported that Symonenko had resigned.
A committee of parliament agreed connected Monday to toughen regulations connected procurement and marque immoderate prices nationalist during times of conflict.
Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, quoted by media, told the committee that the reports of corruption astatine the ministry were based connected a “technical error” with nary wealth changing hands.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau said it was investigating the imaginable transgression of appropriation of funds oregon maltreatment of powerfulness with respect to the procurement, which it said was valued astatine much than 13 cardinal Ukrainian hryvnias ($352m).
Ukraine’s economy shrank by a 3rd past year, and the state is hugely babelike connected Western fiscal aid. Donors, including the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, person repeatedly asked for much transparency and amended governance.
Source
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Al Jazeera and quality agencies
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