Ukraine has been at the top of various corruption lists in the world since the early 1990s. This means that sovereign and independent Ukraine and modern Ukrainian corruption are the same age. Later, due the European and Euro-Atlantic orientation, Ukraine has adopted high-sounding and empty communication strategies related to the fight against corruption. According to the guiding principles of these strategies, Ukrainian state authorities, as a rule, have proudly reported year after year that Ukraine has taken all the necessary steps in the field of anti-corruption.
A national anti-corruption service called NABU has been working in Ukraine since 2015, and an ambitious anti-corruption state strategy was approved in 2022, just two days before Ukraine was granted EU candidate status. A special anti-corruption prosecutors’ office has also been working in Kyiv for a while, and several other ’fireworks’ has been let off in recent years, with the aim of ensuring the West that Ukraine is highly committed in wiping out corruption.
Apparently, fight against corruption in Ukraine is a long-running battle or, so to say, a never-ending story, and the country seems to be losing this fight.
In late January, President Zelenskiy, in response to allegations of corruption and misuse of power suddenly dismissed over a dozen of top officials, including deputy ministers and heads of regional state administrations. ’We need a strong state, and Ukraine will be just like that’ — Zelenskiy stressed in a video message.
Now, briefly about the corruption scandal which broke out in Ukraine in the second half of January 2023:
The deputy defence minister was fired because the ministry purchased overpriced food supplies for its troops. The deputy infrastructure minister was fired amid accusations related to the public purchase of electricity generators. In addition, he also accepted hundreds of thousands of US dollars bribe. Deputy prosecutor general was dismissed because despite all bans, he went on vacation to Marbella, Spain. The deputy head of the presidential office resigned without any official explanations. Governors of the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv were also fired.
In my opinion, Ukraine’s President simply had no other option but to remove his close allies from power. Is this a phantom measure? I am sure it is, mainly as far as the dismissal of the deputy ministers’ is concerned. I find it very interesting that both corruption scandal and consequent dismissals reached only the second line of command, as a result of which, the ministers could remain in power. In my opinion, neither corruption nor any kind of misuse of power stops at the doors of ministers and the prosecutor general, consequently, Zelenskiy’s step clearly indicates that this clean-up is part of his own power game.
And this, I think, should draw the attention of Brussels to unambiguous issues. Firstly, it is simply impossible to take Kyiv’s promises about a corruption-free Ukraine seriously and, secondly, as the war in Ukraine enters its 11th months, Zelenskiy seems to be losing his respect in his own political milieu. In other words, the scandal is the commencing step to a potential political upheaval in Ukraine.
As you know, weakness is a mortal enemy of every politician. Powerful communication can counterbalance the relatively slow but easily recognizable process of falling (loss of authority) for a while. The task of creating balance through communication was given by the President to David Arakhamiya, head of faction of the Servants in Ukraine’s Parliament who, in turn, promised that ’this spring we will definitely plant actively’, referring to the famous words of president Holoborodko of the TV series ’Servant of the People’ who used the same phrase when promised to put each and every criminal behind bars.
Nevertheless, Zelenskiy can use the recent Ukrainian corruption scandal for his own purposes. With the help of the fact that he initiated the dismissal of corrupt high-ranking officials, as Ukraine’s responsible leader, he also has the right to say that Ukraine needs more money, more weapons, more help from the West in its fight against Russia, hoping that his Western allies, as before, continue turning a blind eye to the reality. In this concrete situation this means that, in fact, Western money was stolen in Ukraine.
It is obvious that efforts of Zelenskiy aimed at turning down corruption in Ukraine are not sufficient. The question is: in addition to defending his country, are any other measures are required at all of the head of a country which is in war? In my opinion, the answer is yes. Moreover, because the presidential campaign of Volodimir Zelenskiy was built on anti-corruption promises…
If the European Union ever wants to welcome a corruption-free Ukraine in the family, Brussels should change its behavior towards Kyiv. Opening eyes, instead of turning a blind eye to the reality, seems to be a good beginning. In order to make the right decisions, it is inevitable to be well informed in Brussels regarding what is going on in Ukraine and why. Hard common sense is required to take the necessary steps in order to avoid Europe been held captive by Zelenskiy for many years.
If hundreds of thousands of US dollars and euros confiscated during recent corruption scandal, as well as luxury villas and trips of Ukrainian ministers and other high-ranking officials are not perceived as clear evidence of abuse of Western financial assistance, then what else?
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