2024-02-21 22:23:54
Anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine are investigating more than 60 cases related to the defense sector, a senior law enforcement official said today, quoted by Reuters.
Rooting out the giving and receiving of bribes in the army, which has been hit by scandal in recent months, is key for Kiev, which is trying to fend off Moscow’s nearly two-year-old invasion and is seeking additional support from the West.
Semyon Krivonos, head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), said that cases related to (public) procurement have been prioritized over the past two years and that he has sought help with investigations from foreign partners.
“Theft in the army in these times is a shocking crime and investigations in this area are among the top priorities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau,” Krivonos told reporters in Kyiv.
Earlier this month, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov suspended a senior official after Ukrainian security forces named him a suspect in an alleged $40 million embezzlement scheme.
Umerov’s predecessor, Oleksiy Reznikov, was dismissed in September after public procurement scandals in his ministry came to light, which he described as attempts at defamation, although he himself was not accused of corrupt activities.
Ukraine, which is ranked 104th out of 180 countries according to Transparency Without Borders’ Corruption Perceptions Index, has made fighting corruption in the public sector a top priority as it seeks to meet the for membership in the European Union, writes BTA.
Krivonos said that in the past year the anti-corruption force achieved its best results yet, but called for the creation of a specialized forensics center to investigate cases faster and with greater transparency.