Bolstering anti-corruption efforts and reducing the control over the economy by oligarchs is a central demand for lenders including the International Monetary Fund but also the European Union, which opened accession talks with Kyiv at the end of last year. . .
The scheme tied to Solskyi involves the seizure of some 2,500 hectares of land in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region worth an estimated 291 million hryvnia ($7 million) between 2017 and 2021, NABU said. Investigators foiled another attempt to appropriate land worth another 190 million hryvnia, the watchdog said.
Public outrage over corruption has also played a role in the political arena. Anti-graft officials last year opened an investigation into suspected purchases of food at inflated prices for war-hit regions, a probe that entangled Solskyi’s deputy, Taras Vysotskyi. The ministry denied the accusations.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed his defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, as part of the wartime cabinet’s biggest shakeup last year. The former defense chief long fended off allegations over graft in military procurement by subordinates, charges that he denied.
Ukraine’s agriculture minister suspected of corrupt land grab
Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky pledged on Tuesday his full cooperation with Kyiv’s anticorruption agency as it investigates the illegal acquisition of state-owned land.
KEEP READING
Global corruption fight faltering as rule of law declines: Watchdog
Ukraine Supreme Court chief detained in $2.7m graft probe
- It did not name Solsky, but in its statement said the suspect was the former chairman of the parliamentary agrarian committee. Solsky held the post before becoming a minister.
- The statement said the scheme also involved an additional attempt to acquire land worth 190 million hryvnia ($4.81m).
“I guarantee maximum openness to establish the truth, but there is no need for this – all data is open to law enforcement, and the evidence and arguments of the parties are being considered by the courts,” Solsky said.
Destroying documents
NABU alleges that Solsky led a group that expropriated farmland in the northeastern Sumy region between 2017 and 2021 by destroying documents that showed two state-owned companies had rights to use the land.
The group then got a state agency to transfer the rights to individuals connected to them under the guise of a government scheme for the use of agricultural plots, NABU said.
Ukraine Anti-Graft Office Suspects Agriculture Minister of Fraud
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Suspected In Corruption Scandal
Ukraine's anti-corruption agency on Tuesday accused the country's agriculture minister of illegally appropriating state land worth more than $7 million between 2017 and 2021.
Several cases of corruption have emerged in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, although they have typically involved lower-level officials and been related to army procurement.
Kyiv has pledged to accelerate a crackdown on corruption as it strives for membership of the European Union.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said on Tuesday that it had "exposed" a current minister for "taking over state land worth 291 million hryvnias ($7.3 million) and attempting to seize land worth another 190 million hryvnias".
Although it did not specifically name him, the statement makes clear the agency was referring to Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky.The NABU alleged Solsky led a group that expropriated farmland in the northeastern Sumy region between 2017 and 2021, before he became a minister, by destroying documents that showed two state-owned companies had rights to use the land.
The group then got a state agency to transfer the rights to individuals connected to them under the guise of a government scheme for the use of agricultural plots, NABU said. . .
The NABU said earlier that its agents had foiled the "criminal group" in its attempts to repeat the ploy for another 3,300 hectares of land worth almost $5 million.
The minister, along with his alleged co-conspirators, have been served official notices of suspicion, Ukraine's Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Blighted by severe corruption scandals since the fall of the Soviet Union, Kyiv has pledged to boost its anti-graft efforts as part of its bid for EU membership.
President Volodymyr Zelensky last year sacked the country's defence minister over a series of corruption scandals in the army.
No comments:
Post a Comment