- Ukraine combats systemic corruption
- $40 million arms scandal exposed
- High-level officials implicated
The Ukrainian security service claims to have uncovered corruption in a $40 million (£31 million) arms procurement by the military.
The SBU stated that investigations were underway into five senior personnel at the defense ministry and a munitions supplier.
The defense officials reportedly signed a contract in August 2022 for one hundred thousand mortar shells.
The armaments were never delivered despite the advance payment and international wire transfers of funds.
Corruption has significantly impeded Ukraine’s efforts to accede to the European Union.
The SBU stated that managers of munitions supplier Lviv Arsenal and officials of the Ministry of Defence were “exposed” in an investigation as “thieves of nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells.”
According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and the heads of affiliated corporations are implicated in the embezzlement.
“Not a single artillery shell” was ever delivered, according to the SBU, despite the contract for the shells having been agreed upon six months after Russia initiated its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine Tackles Endemic Corruption Challenges
The SBU stated that one of the suspects was apprehended while attempting to flee Ukraine and is presently in custody.
The stolen funds have been confiscated and will be returned to the defense budget, according to the prosecutor general of Ukraine.
Corruption-related problems have plagued Ukraine for years.
As soon as he assumed office in 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky identified combating corruption as a top priority.
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Republicans in the United States are opposing President Joe Biden’s efforts to increase aid to Ukraine as the latest allegations surface.
President Zelensky dismissed all military recruitment officials in August to end a system that permitted specific individuals to avoid conscription.
Ukraine was positioned 116th out of 180 countries in the 2022 corruption perceptions index compiled by Transparency International, a research and advocacy organization.
Anti-corruption initiatives, however, are starting to yield positive results. Ukraine is one of ten nations that has risen 28 positions in Transparency International’s rankings over the past decade.
