KYIV: Staff from a Ukrainian arms agency conspired with defence ministry officers to embezzle virtually $40 million earmarked to purchase 100,000 mortar shells for the battle with Russia, Ukraine‘s safety service reported. The Ukraine’s SBU stated Saturday that 5 folks have been charged, with one individual detained whereas making an attempt to cross the Ukrainian border.If discovered responsible, they withstand 12 years in jail.
The investigation comes as Kyiv makes an attempt to clamp down on corruption in a bid to hurry up its membership within the EU and Nato. Officers from each blocs have demanded widespread anti-graft reforms earlier than Kyiv can be part of them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected on an anti-corruption platform in 2019, lengthy earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Safety officers say that the present investigation dates again to August 2022, when officers signed a contract for artillery shells price 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39.6 million) with arms agency Lviv Arsenal.
After receiving cost, firm staff had been presupposed to switch the funds to a enterprise registered overseas, which might then ship the ammunition to Ukraine. Nevertheless, the products had been by no means delivered and the cash was as an alternative despatched to varied accounts in Ukraine and the Balkans, investigators stated.
The investigation comes as Kyiv makes an attempt to clamp down on corruption in a bid to hurry up its membership within the EU and Nato. Officers from each blocs have demanded widespread anti-graft reforms earlier than Kyiv can be part of them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected on an anti-corruption platform in 2019, lengthy earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Safety officers say that the present investigation dates again to August 2022, when officers signed a contract for artillery shells price 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39.6 million) with arms agency Lviv Arsenal.
After receiving cost, firm staff had been presupposed to switch the funds to a enterprise registered overseas, which might then ship the ammunition to Ukraine. Nevertheless, the products had been by no means delivered and the cash was as an alternative despatched to varied accounts in Ukraine and the Balkans, investigators stated.
