Ukraine’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister Vasyl Lozinskyi has been arrested and fired from his post for allegedly stealing $400,000 (£320,000) intended for the purchase of emergency supplies, including generators, according to state anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors Ukraine.
After the news broke, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that old forms of corruption would not return to Ukraine.
“Let me be clear: there will be no return to what used to be, to the way various people were close to state institutions or spent their entire lives chasing a chair [a state position] lived,” said Zelenskyy in his nightly address on Sunday, without explicitly mentioning the case.
According to Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies, Lozinskyi colluded with contractors to raise generator prices and siphoned off some of the difference. Other national and regional officials are also said to have been involved. Over the summer, Ukraine’s government allocated 1.68 billion hryvnia (about £36.7 million) for goods and technology that would help provide the population with alternative sources of energy, water and heat during the winter.
The goods were bought to prepare Ukraine in case Russia attacks its energy infrastructure – which it has done regularly since September.
Lozinskyi was arrested by anti-corruption investigators on Saturday. In a statement, they said they found $38,000 in cash in Lozinskyi’s office and posted a picture of stacks of dollar and hryvnia bills. Losinskyi was dismissed from the government on Sunday. He has not commented on the allegations.
Before the war, corruption scandals were almost part of everyday life in Ukrainian politics. The country was ranked 122 out of 180 by Transparency International in 2021, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The EU has made anti-corruption reforms one of the most important prerequisites for Ukraine’s EU membership.
Since the war, cases of corruption have been far less well known as society has focused on the war effort. But journalists have returned to scrutinizing the elites in recent months.
Pavlo Halimon, deputy leader of Zelenskyy’s party – named after his TV show Servant of the People – was also fired on Monday on corruption charges, to which he has not responded. Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda on Monday morning published an investigation into his purchase of a property in Kyiv for more than his stated funds. Zelenskyi’s party leader, Davyd Arakhamia, called for an investigation into the matter and dismissed Hamilon as his actions contradicted party values.
“If you a [MP] and have a few extra million hryvnia, then you should help your country. That is your duty,” Arakhamia said.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov was also in the spotlight this week after another Ukrainian publication, ZN.UA, published an investigation into the Defense Ministry’s food procurement. It was alleged that food contracts for the army were being inflated. But Reznikov has denied the claims and insisted a parliamentary committee be set up to investigate. According to Reznikov, the difference in price can be partly explained by deliveries to the frontline areas and partly by the fact that different suppliers have different specialties.
Zelenskyy, who was elected on a promise to change the way Ukraine was governed in 2019, also said in his late night speech on Sunday that there would be an announcement on corruption this week.
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“This week will be the time for appropriate decisions,” Zelenskyy said. “The decisions have already been made. I don’t want to make them public at this point, but it will all be fair.”
Portal contributed to this report