The National Anti-Corruption Office of Ukraine revealed systematic embezzlement of funds from military contracts for the procurement of drones. Among those arrested is a deputy of the party, while the government is trying to restore the trust of the public and the EU
U Ukraine inspectors for the fight against corruption exposed a new scandal related to the procurement of weapons. The National Anti-Corruption Office (NABU), together with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP), announced that it had discovered "systematic embezzlement" of public funds for the military, as well as "the receiving and giving of illegal benefits on a particularly large scale".
We are talking about contracts with producers drones which, according to the authorities in Kyiv, were concluded at significantly higher prices - to the detriment of the state budget of Ukraine, reports Deutsche says.
According to the available information, four people were arrested - among them, according to the German news agency dpa, is Ukrainian parliament member Oleksiy Kuznetsov. He belongs to the "Servant of the People" party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
30 percent for bribes
The accusations also refer to some other persons from public services at the city level, as well as members of the National Guard. They have been suspended from their duties, said the Minister of the Interior, Ihor Klimenko. The suspects, as stated, concluded contracts for the purchase of drones for the war at exorbitant prices, and then received 30 percent of the amount in the form of bribes.
President Zelenski stated that he is "grateful" to the anti-corruption bodies for their work. "There must be no tolerance for corruption, clear team cooperation is needed in order to expose bribery - and ultimately fair verdicts," he said on his Telegram channel. "It is important that institutions work independently." The newly approved law, passed on Thursday, provides all the possibilities for that.
It was with that law that the Ukrainian parliament re-established the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Office and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Before that, by order of Zelenski, both institutions were placed under the jurisdiction of the State Prosecutor's Office. It sparked protests in the country and criticism from the European Union last week.
105th place out of 180 on the Transparency index
Corruption and misappropriation of funds are widespread in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the Russian attack more than three years ago, several cases of corruption in the army and the Ministry of Defense have already been discovered.
Because of this, the EU has demanded several times from Ukraine to implement reforms if it wants to achieve membership in the Union. In the current Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine ranks 105th out of a total of 180 countries. Western aid in the fight against Russia also regularly disappears through invisible channels.
Big summer discount on "Vreme"! Just click here, choose a subscription and support the editorial staff in their independent work.
The richest man in the world responded with a threat to the news that Democrats are preparing investigations against him if they win the congressional elections. Musk said that whoever initiates a conflict with him should know that "they will find out who is actually pulling the strings."
A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for misleading Facebook users about their privacy. State Prosecutor Raul Torres said that the verdict is a signal to the entire Silicon Valley.
Yesterday (October 21) in Tirana was relatively calm, but the reason is the rain. On Tuesday, protesters threw Molotov cocktails at Prime Minister Eddie Rama's office. He continues to call for dialogue, while student protests shake the country
For life under lenses and microphones, the citizens of Serbia can thank the equipment from the country that has 700 million cameras and whose measures of totalitarian surveillance fascinate the Great Leader even more than the Chinese robots playing "Moravac".
Trump's former lawyer claims Grenell failed to pay her husband's donation to the Kennedy Center, which he denies
There is, literally, no difference between the one who claims it is day in the middle of the night, or the one who claims to be a giraffe, from the claims we read on billboards: that Vuฤiฤ is working to unify Serbs and that Serbia is doing better and better day by day.
The pre-election arrests due to the alleged "overthrow of the state" testify to the regime's panic. The bad news for them is - they can't arrest the whole people who decided to defend themselves from progressive beatings and election theft
The ring that tightens around ฤaciland Student list is getting narrower. Because there are more and more spoiled people who see the false prophet for what he is: a street obscener who is fighting Serbia
The archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
