On Wednesday morning, Ukrainian authorities conducted two high-profile anti-corruption raids against oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi and former Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, The Guardian reports, citing News.ro.

The house of billionaire Ihor Kolomoiskyi, one of the richest businessmen of Ukraine, was searched, a source in the SBU informed Suspilno.

The local press reports that the investigation concerns the companies “Ukrtatnafta” and “Ukrnafta”. It is about the waste of oil products worth 40 billion hryvnias and the evasion of customs payments.

Photos circulating on social media show Kolomoiskyi, dressed in a tracksuit, looking inside a large wooden building in the presence of SBU officers, writes Reuters, which says it could not immediately verify the authenticity of the images.

Who is Ihor Kolomoiskyi?

Kolomoiskyi was previously indicted in the US, and last year Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship. Ihor Kolomoiskyi is a former associate of Zelenskyi and supported him in the 2019 election campaign.

He comes from Dnipro and owns a number of assets, including one of the most influential TV channels in Ukraine.

Ukrainian anti-corruption officials are also investigating a case in which eight people are suspected of embezzling assets and funds from a state-controlled oil company previously linked to Kolomoisky, Reuters writes.

The United States imposed sanctions against the oligarch in 2021 “due to his involvement in significant acts of corruption.”

American authorities said that Kolomoisky and a business partner laundered the stolen funds in the United States. Kolomoisky denies any wrongdoing.

Searches of the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

As for Arsen Avakov, he was the Minister of Internal Affairs from 2014 to 2021. He told Suspilny that the searches were related to the crash of a military helicopter in Brovary last month, and searches were conducted in May at many addresses.

“We reviewed six-year-old contracts with Airbus helicopters. Of course, nothing was found. The contracts were approved by the government and the parliament,” said Avakov.

An Airbus military helicopter crashed on January 18, killing 14 people, including Interior Minister Denis Monastyrskyi and other high-ranking officials of the ministry.

59-year-old Avakov resigned from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in July 2021. He was one of the most influential officials in the country, having worked as the Minister of Internal Affairs for more than seven years.

All of these raids come as Ukrainian authorities have stepped up their anti-corruption efforts in recent weeks after the media exposed several cases of questionable contracts, including in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Since then, several officials and civil servants have been fired or resigned, some of them have been arrested or investigated.

Also, a summit with the EU will be held in Kyiv on Friday as part of the assessment of its candidacy for the bloc of the community, which it must convince in accordance with the necessary standards.

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