Details:
The head of the Odesa Oblast Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support (this is military enlistment office) Yevhen Borysov was dismissed from his position, because he bought real estate and cars worth millions of dollars on the Spanish coast. Illegal enrichment of Borysov was estimated about $7 million. Later the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) announced that about 10 military enlistment officers from territorial recruitment and social support centres have been exposed this summer. Military enlistment officers organised an enrichment scheme for their entourage in the army and helped criminal elements hide from the court, established mechanisms for issuing fictitious documents for crossing the state border.
Another angle of the recent corruption scandal is about the Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) Committee on National Security, Defence & Intelligence, a member of the pro-government Servant of the People political party faction, Yurii Aristov who managed to go on holiday to the Maldives despite a ban on officials travelling abroad. The Ukrainian lawmaker was on holiday between 05 June and 22 July 2023. According to the authorities, he first travelled to Poland for three days during an official business trip to deepen bilateral cooperation with the Government of Lithuania. On 10 July 2023, while abroad, the MP remotely took a sick leave certificate. The investigators found out that Aristov, together with his family, stayed on the Maldives.
On 25 July, President Zelenskyy reacted to the scandal as follows:
’(…) Unfortunately, some people think that the war is somewhere far away from them. (…) No one will forgive MPs, judges, ’military commissars’ or any other officials for putting themselves in opposition to the state. For some, it’s about islands and resorts during the war, for others it’s about lining one’s pocket in the military enlistment office, for others it’s about bribes in the courts. For any public official, this is a betrayal of state principles, a betrayal of the interests of society. (…) I want all MPs and officials to hear me now. You must work in Ukraine and for the sake of the Ukrainian people. (…) And those who think about spending more time abroad and look for ’profitable’ trips so that they can combine them with business, friends or ’beaches’ – there will not be any of you left.’
I can understand President Zelenskyy’s frustration and disappointment over the constant corruption scandals in his country which distract attention from the most important issue: the war. However, I must point out that it is not only the President of Ukraine who is frustrated.
Like many Europeans, I am also deeply and sincerely disappointed that despite all international efforts, serious warnings from partners and various donor conferences which ensure the constant flow of money to Ukraine, the Ukrainian state administration has so far failed to cope with corruption. I have repeatedly written about this problem, and my opinion has not changed: corruption, this contagious disease is present everywhere in the country, it just overwhelms Ukraine. Sadly, with each and every corruption scandal, I am more and more convinced that I am right.
If it comes to corruption in Ukraine, which, in fact, is a rude misuse of the state’s financial resources, I cannot forget the words of the head of the Ukrainian MFA Dmytro Kuleba when asked by journalists after the conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in London 21-22 June. (As a result of this conference Ukraine received €60 billion.)
Question: ’At the conference, representatives of EU member states say that Ukraine’s recovery process should be linked to its European integration aspirations. This can be interpreted like this: funds for reconstruction in exchange for meeting certain conditions that are required, in particular, for European integration. Is the Ukrainian leadership comfortable with this approach?’
Answer (DK): ’This is a normal story. When the former countries of the socialist camp – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary – entered the European integration process, the point was to overcome the post-Soviet destruction with the help of European money. In our case, it is about overcoming the destruction caused by Russia. So, basically, the model itself is familiar to Europeans. It worked the same way with our neighbours: money in exchange for transformation.’
In my opinion, Mr Kuleba’s concept of comparing the accession of the mentioned CEE countries with Ukraine’s European integration is completely wrong. One more thing should be added, and this is very disappointing, that the head of Ukraine’s MFA in this interview reveals what matters to him, and that is money.
As for the former communist bloc’s countries, their European integration was initiated and carried out by their own free will and thanks to the free-spirited Polish, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian people who, after half a century of Soviet repression, decided to reunite with Europe.
In Ukraine, on the contrary, it is not free will and free spirit, but the war with Russia and the need for more and more financial resources that bring Ukraine closer to Europe.
Speaking about the views of Mr Kuleba, it should be stressed that the CEE countries have never been such corrupt states as Ukraine, and, their accession to the European Union did not mean a security threat to the EU and its citizens. These countries needed only a little bit of support and once they received it, they soon became real democracies.
Ukraine has never ever received such huge amounts of money from its Western partners as it has in the last two years, but it has so far failed to tackle corruption. It is time to recognise, both on behalf of Europe and Ukraine, that it is in fact the constant influx of money into Ukraine that is fuelling corruption there. I am afraid that such an admission would cause such serious disagreements between Kyiv and its Western partners that they would rather not raise this issue during official talks.
Sources:
• https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/koli-nashi-lyudi-roblyat-use-mozhlive-j-nemozhlive-dlya-pere-84509
• https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/22/7407993/
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