In Ukraine, investigators have uncovered a new corruption scandal related to arms procurement. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), together with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP), announced that they had uncovered "systematic embezzlement" of public funds for the military, as well as "receiving and granting illegal benefits on a particularly large scale."
These are contracts with drone manufacturers which, according to the authorities in Kiev, were concluded at significantly high prices - to the detriment of the Ukrainian state budget.
According to information so far, four suspects have been arrested - among them, according to the German news agency dpa, is MP Oleksiy Kuznetsov. He belongs to the party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The charges also refer to several other city-level public service employees, as well as members of the National Guard. The latter were suspended from their duties, Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko said. The suspects, it was said, concluded contracts for the purchase of drones for combat at exorbitant prices, and then received 30 percent of the amount in the form of bribes.
President Zelensky stated that he is "grateful" to the anti-corruption bodies for their work.
"There should be no tolerance for corruption, clear cooperation is needed to uncover bribery - and ultimately fair decisions to punish it," he said on his Telegram channel.
"It is important that institutions work independently." The law, newly approved on Thursday, offers all the possibilities for fighting corruption and bribery.
With this law, the Ukrainian parliament restored the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Office and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Before that, by order of Zelensky, both institutions were placed under the jurisdiction of the State Prosecutor's Office. This caused protests in the country and criticism from the European Union last week.
Corruption and embezzlement are widespread problems in Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion began more than three years ago, several cases of corruption have been uncovered in the army and the Ministry of Defense.
Therefore, the EU has consistently demanded that Ukraine implement reforms if it wants to become a member of the European Union. In Transparency International's current Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine ranks 105th out of 180 countries.
There are also suspicions that Western aid sent to Ukraine to fight Russia is disappearing through dark channels, but so far no concrete case of large-scale corruption has been published. DW (A2 Televizion)
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