Ukraine’s government has been rocked by a $100 million money-laundering and corruption scandal, just as the EU ponders further multi-billion support for Kyiv. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says Brussels is “funding a wartime mafia” in Ukraine as the country’s justice and energy ministers resign over the probe. The Spectator says the investigation could even “bring down Volodymyr Zelensky” with some of his closest allies among the accused. Is Ukraine funnelling European taxpayer support through shell companies into private hands?
The Core Corruption Allegations
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) alleges a kickback network tied to contracts that are supposed to harden the country’s energy infrastructure – but may in fact be shuffling money into the shadows. Reuters reports that seven people have been charged, with five already detained. A former deputy premier, ministerial advisers, Energoatom’s security chief, and Timur Mindich – a close associate of Zelensky – are among those named by investigators. Mindich is a prominent businessman and former co-owner of Zelensky’s TV company, Kvartal 95. NABU alleges that payments flowed from contractors to insiders negotiating the deals.
Who is Timur Mindich?
Mindich is “best known as a long-time co-owner of Volodomyr Zelensky’s Kvartal 95” notes The Spectator, an association that transforms a corruption case into a political crisis for the President.
“A Solid gold toilet and cupboards loaded with bagfuls of €200 bills are among the treasures linked to the prominent Ukrainian businessman Timur Mindich” the report states. Mindich is “big in real estate, fertilisers, banking and diamond trading” and NABU’s 15-month long investigation is likely to have “momentous consequences” for Zelensky’s political future. Mindich, along with several other leading suspects, fled Ukraine just hours before raids took place.
Zelensky Supports the Investigation
Zelensky, however, has publicly supported the anti-corruption crackdown, telling the nation that “there must be sentences” and urging government officials to “work together with NABU”. But as recently as four months ago, Zelensky attempted to bring NABU and its sister agency SAPO under direct government control – an attempt that prompted major demonstrations in the streets of Kyiv, becoming the first public protests against the government since the start of the war.
European Leaders’ Damning Critique of Ukraine’s Alleged Corruption
On Thursday last week, Orbán said that emerging reports of corruption have “exposed” a “wartime mafia network with countless ties to President Volodomyr Zelensky”, adding: “it’s high time Brussels finally understood where their money is really going”.
His damning social media statement read:
“The golden illusion of Ukraine is falling apart. A wartime mafia network with countless ties to President Zelensky has been exposed. The energy minister has already resigned, and the main suspect has fled the country. This is the chaos into which the Brusselian elite want to pour European taxpayers’ money, where whatever isn’t shot off on the front lines ends up in the pockets of the war mafia. Madness.”
Among others, Germany’s Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, echoes the sentiment. Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, warned that “corruption is out of control in Ukraine, so it’s no surprise that no one has ever seen a clear accounting of how the EU funds were actually spent.”
EU Keeps Sending Money Regardless
Immediately following the news breaking of the corruption scandal, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko took to social media to confirm that “Ukraine has just received €5.9 billion from the European Union,” and thanked Brussels officials “for their leadership and unwavering support.” Ukraine Defence Minister Denys Shymhal also urged the EU to “take the next historic step – a political decision to launch the Reparations Loan.”
What Has NABU Found So Far?
The full extent of the investigation is confidential, but reports from the New York Times and other outlets suggest that the corruption runs deep, involving many figures linked to Zelensky and Kvartal 95. One particular question that’s been raised is how Fire Point – a casting agency for Zelensky’s films before the war – came to acquire multi-million dollar government contracts to produces drones for the army. Fire Point is not currently charged with any wrongdoing, although they have also been found to produce a newly-developed Flamingo long-range cruise missile.
NABU officers have apparently discovered over 1,000 hours of audio recordings that Mindich allegedly made of his conversations with business partners. They even posted a short teaser of their findings on social media, featuring clips of two men identified by code names talking in Russian. The recordings don’t make much sense to most, but it appears to be a threat aimed at politicians sitting at the very top of the Ukrainian establishment.
What Happens Now?
The EU continues supporting Ukraine financially despite the investigation. The country needs continental support to keep the lights on and continue the fight against Russia, but how will European taxpayer sentiment change in light of the probe? Hungary is the most vocal opponent of the country’s alleged corruption – will we see others voice concerns? Will the EU demand more transparency, and can Ukraine produce procurement and bidding documentation?
In the meantime, Zelensky and allies claim that the system itself is not broken, but is in fact working precisely because investigators are making the arrests. The President supports investigations and wants answers, while some reports suggest that the outcome may well lead to his own downfall.
Final Thought
“The image of a golden toilet which was discovered in former president Viktor Yanukovych’s luxurious suburban mansion became an iconic emblem of the corruption that led to 2014’s momentous Maidan protests. It’s a supreme irony that the revolution against those golden toilet-owners led eventually to a full-scale war with Russia – the profits from which, it seems, have been used to buy yet more golden toilets.” – The Spectator
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Categories: Breaking News, World News
What a surprise – not.