10 minutes agoGetting $500,000 in bribes, Ukraine arrests Deputy Energy Minister
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)Ukraine has arrested one of its four energy deputy ministers and three other suspects after it was detained taking $500,000 in bribes, state prosecutors and police have announced. It becomes known that Ukraine has stepped up a war campaign against official corruption to prove the country's credentials for joining [...]
It becomes known that Ukraine has stepped up a war campaign against official corruption to prove the country's credentials for joining the European Union, which has made fighting corruption a priority.
Its energy sector is a vital pillar in the efforts of the national war against Russia and has suffered serious damage from Russian air strikes this year. Recently, the Prosecutor General's Office said the suspects have demanded a bribe of $500,000 in exchange for facilitating the removal of mining equipment of a state coal company from war-torn areas in Donetsk, Reuters writes.
As part of the deal, the Lviv-Vullin coal company would be authorised to move the equipment and toė operate them freely in state mines in the western region of Ukraine.
The statement did not identify the deputy minister, but the government said it had fired Deputy Energy Minister Oleksandr Kheilo with immediate effect.
As reported, other suspects include an official in a state coal company and two other mediators. The suspects were arrested because they were ready to take $100,000 from a bribe of $500,000.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said German Galushchenko, the Energy Minister, had helped expose fraud and immediately called on the cabinet of ministers to sack the MP. Otherwise, Ukraine has been fighting corruption for years.
In April, the minister of Agriculture was arrested and fired on charges of involvement in an illegal purchase of state land worth $7m.
