Latest news with #SpecializedAnticorruptionProsecutor
New York Times
03-08-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Ukraine Announces Arrests Targeting Corruption in Military Procurement
The Ukrainian authorities have arrested a number of officials on suspicion of corruption in relation to what they called a 'large scale' bribery scheme involving military procurement. The announcement came days after President Volodymyr Zelensky, under intense domestic and international pressure, backtracked on a move to weaken two anticorruption agencies. His actions against the watchdogs prompted major street protests in Ukraine, the first antigovernment demonstrations since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. In a statement on Saturday night, Mr. Zelensky thanked the agencies for their work in the military procurement case, making a point to stress the importance of their independent status — only three days after it was restored in a vote by Parliament. Mr. Zelensky said that the agencies had informed him that they had uncovered a kickbacks scheme. He said that a member of Parliament, the heads of district and city military civil administrations, and several National Guard servicemen were involved. He did not provide further details. The agencies — the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office — issued a separate statement saying that four people had been arrested as part of their investigation into 'large-scale corruption' in the procurement of drones and electronic jamming equipment. 'The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices — up to 30 percent of the contract amount was returned to the participants in the crime,' the statement added. Last month, Mr. Zelensky pushed through a law giving his administration control over the two anticorruption bodies, setting off the street demonstrations. The agencies had been investigating top ministers in Mr. Zelensky's government, and Mr. Zelensky's move to kneecap them drew accusations of cronyism. Amid the protests and strong criticism from Ukraine's European allies, the president made a rare U-turn and presented a new bill to Parliament to restore the bodies' independence. The law passed on Thursday. 'There can only be zero tolerance for corruption,' Mr. Zelensky said in his statement on Saturday.
New York Times
24-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The Anticorruption Watchdogs at the Center of Protests Against Zelensky
Thousands of people in Ukraine for a second night turned out to protest President Volodymyr Zelensky's bid to control the country's anticorruption agencies, even as he promised to walk back some of the policies that had touched off the street action. The surge of anger, with protesters toting profanity-laced signs directed at Mr. Zelensky and his top advisers, underscores the pivotal role of those watchdog agencies in Ukraine's politics and the sensitive issues they investigate. None are more fraught than alleged schemes to embezzle from military budgets. Military spending in Ukraine is drawn from the country's tax revenues and is not tied to the flow of weaponry donated by Western allies. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the anticorruption agencies have scrutinized such spending, Balazs Jarabik, a former European Union diplomat and founder of Minority Report, a political risk consultancy, said in an interview. And over the more than three years of the war, criminal cases have sprung from those investigations, enraging Ukrainians. On Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky signed into law a bill giving Ukraine's prosecutor general — who is approved by Parliament, where Mr. Zelensky's party holds a majority — new power over the two agencies, the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
