Several high-ranking Ukrainian officials announced their resignations on Tuesday following an investigation into alleged corruption related to overpriced military supplies. This is the first scandal and the first reshuffle of this scale since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, writes France Presse.

Among the officials who resigned and whose resignations were immediately accepted are Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was responsible for the logistical support of the Armed Forces, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko, and Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko.

• “Even if these accusations are unfounded, Shapovalov’s departure will allow maintaining the trust of society and international partners, as well as ensure the objectivity of efforts to cover this case,” the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv said in a statement. statement, writes Agerpres, referring to AFP.

Corruption scandal at the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv

The Ukrainian publication Zn accuses the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which is headed by Oleksiy Reznikov, of purchasing food for the army at prices that are two to three times higher than Kyiv grocery prices, writes The Kyiv Independent.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denied the accusations in the Ukrainian media, saying that the story has “signs of deliberate manipulation and misleading”, but did not provide additional details, reports The Kyiv Independent.

The Ministry of Defense has announced that it will require the Security Service to investigate “false information that harms our defense interests” while martial law is in place.

The Ukrainian publication Zn wrote about the contract of the Ministry of Defense for 2023 on the purchase of food from its sources in the army.

The publication notes that this contract with a total value of UAH 13.16 billion, which is equivalent to EUR 328.4 million, was concluded on December 23 and provides for the supply of food products to the Ukrainian military stationed in Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions. .

The contract does not provide for the delivery of food to the frontline fighters, where “only delivery can make any purchase more expensive,” writes Zn.

Journalists claim that the Ministry of Defense agreed to pay 17 hryvnias (48 euro cents) for an egg, while in one of the capital’s stores its price is about 7 hryvnias (18 euro cents). A kilogram of potatoes ordered for the Ukrainian military costs 22 hryvnias (55 euro cents), and in Kyiv grocery stores the price is about 9 hryvnias (23 euro cents), reports Zn.

Immediately after the exposure in the media, the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on National Security, Defense and Intelligence summoned high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense to answer the accusations.

Corruption scandal in which the deputy minister was detained / Details of the investigation

Also, several officials of central and regional executive bodies in Ukraine appear in a corruption investigation, as part of which Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Vasyl Lozinsky was arrested, who is accused of embezzling public funds for alternative energy sources in the winter months, reports CNN.

$400,000 in bribes

According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Lozinsky is accused of receiving commissions in the amount of 400,000 dollars, in this way he was “exposed and embezzled from budget funds.” He would have received the money for assistance in signing contracts for the purchase of some equipment and machinery, in particular electric generators, at an inflated price.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau shows that about $49 million was allocated over the summer to “provide the population with alternative sources of electricity, heat and water during the winter due to the situation caused by the destruction of critical infrastructure.”

• “The investigation established that a number of officials of the central and regional executive bodies decided to waste part of the state funds.
• For this, they worked with a group of intermediaries and ensured the conclusion of purchase and sale contracts with predetermined commercial structures at prices inflated by almost 280 million hryvnias (about 7.6 million dollars),” anti-corruption prosecutors say.

According to the source, several searches were conducted in this case, 920,000 UAH and 38,700 dollars were found and seized in the offices of some businessmen.

The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov announced that on Sunday Vasyl Lozinskyi was dismissed from the position of Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure.

On vacation in Spain

Tymoshenko, one of the few presidential staffers after the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyi in 2019 and who, in particular, oversaw projects to restore facilities damaged by Russian strikes, was in turn involved in several scandals during and before the invasion of Moscow.

In October, he was mostly accused of using an all-terrain vehicle donated to Ukraine by the General Motors concern for humanitarian purposes. After these revelations, Tymoshenko announced the transfer of equipment to the front line.

In turn, the influential Ukrainian publication “Ukrainian Pravda” accused Simonenko of the fact that he recently went on vacation to Spain, and foreign trips, except for official purposes, are usually prohibited for Ukrainian men drafted into the army in case of war.

According to the publication, he drove in the car of a Ukrainian businessman accompanied by his bodyguard.

“This week will be the time for appropriate decisions”

In a video message on Sunday evening, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Ukrainians about justice, assuring that, despite the war, society will be built on the right foundations and will not return to the practices of the past.

• “I want it to be clear: there will be no return to what was in the past, to the way different people, close to state institutions, or those who ran for the seat all their lives lived.
• In a society that feels justice, the unity of people is always stronger,” he said, recalling the dismissal of a deputy minister suspected of corruption.
• “This week will be the time for appropriate decisions. These decisions are already prepared. I don’t want to tell them now, but everything will be fine.
• I understand what got people’s attention. In each situation, we will analyze everything in detail. Problems related to energy and procurement. Relations between the central government and the regions. Everything related to procurement for the army. And so on.
• Society will receive full information, and the state will take the necessary tough measures,” Zelenskyy added.

Civil servants will no longer be able to leave the country, except for business trips

Also on Monday evening, Zelenskyi announced that he had signed several decrees, including one that prohibits all civil servants, including deputies, from leaving the country other than on business trips.

• “There is a principled decision of the National Security Council regarding the trips of officials abroad. This applies to all civil servants of the central government and various other levels of local government.
• This applies to law enforcement officers, people’s deputies, prosecutors, and everyone who has to work for the state and in the state. If they want to rest now, they will rest outside of public office. Officials will no longer be able to go abroad on vacation or for other non-state purposes,” the President of Ukraine said.

He also announced that within five days the Cabinet of Ministers will develop the procedure for crossing the border for civil servants, so that the reason for crossing the border can only be a genuine business trip.