© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS
President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly stated to his "foreign sponsors" that corruption in Ukraine is over, especially as regards the Ministry of Defense. But the country’s stark reality proves the opposite, to put it mildly. The war has generated lots of corruption opportunities as compared to peacetime, with military bureaucracy and business representatives hastening to exploit those.
One of the most popular areas is defense procurements and humanitarian aid plundering.
Thus, a scandal has just subsided around the foodstuff purchases for the Armed Forces of Ukraine at two- or threefold inflated prices as against retail products, after a batch of new facts has emerged. Defense Ministry moneymakers along with "authorized merchants" earned at least $700,000 on the purchase of flasks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Prolog-Service LLC purchased 100, 000 items directly, without any competitions, at $7.9 per piece with a net price of $0.59. Nearly the same thing happened to imported body armor procurement — 3?000 pieces cost the treasury 130 million UAH at a market price accounting for 25 million UAH. Those suspected of the corrupt transaction were the former Deputy Minister of Defense and Public Procurement Department chief.
As for the second direction, Telegram channels have reported over 650 cases of missing humanitarian aid for the military this year alone. This particularly refers to bulletproof vest plates, night vision devices, life finders, drones, vehicles and other products and means. More than 10% of humanitarian goods intended for the Armed Forces tend to vanish to an undisclosed location.
A question arises as to who are the real enemies of the Ukrainian fighters — those in the trenches opposite or in Kiev behind them?
Besides, conscription issues have become a really profitable "business direction", with an initial rate being $5,000. For residents of western regions who can quickly leave for Poland or Hungary, the "white ticket" costs some $10,000, including the conscript’s recognition as ineligible for service and removal from military registration.
Odessa draft officer Yevgeny Borisov has gained fame in this "business" by taking $10,000 bribes for exempting people from mobilization. Established data alone suggest that with the money he earned this way, Borisov acquired a two-storey villa in Spain worth $4.5 million and a premium-class 2022 Mercedes AMG G63 (it costs $200+ thousand in Ukraine).
Due to media reports Vladimir Zelensky had to dismiss him, though gossips suggested that Mr. Borisov's activities were covered up at the very top. In particular, head of the president's office Andrei Yermak could have been interested in keeping this person in office, as he got kickbacks for every service evader. In addition, the corrupt official’s son is an SBU executive. So, despite all the convictions, the now former commissar has not faced any criminal charges.
With this news not even having left the narrative, a new fact was discovered — Lvov region head Maxim Kozitsky issued illegal exit permits under a program meant for shipping agents and truck drivers of volunteer movements so that they can purchase and deliver goods needed by the army. Service fee was $3,000 to 7,000, and the total number of permits issues exceeded 60,000 worth $180 to 420 million. And this is just one area. The Ministry of Defense with its flasks can't hold a candle to this.
The "business" of transferring people from the front to the rear is becoming increasingly popular. The Investigation Bureau of Ukraine recently detained a personnel officer of a territorial defense brigade while receiving a bribe of UAH 1.2 million for this kind of offence. As Ukrainian journalists write, he defied the "standard tariff" fixed at 10,000 to 15, 000 UAH per person and demanded 75,000 for an expanded range of services — soldiers kept being listed on the frontline so as to receive allowances.
Unit commanders also got in on the act with heir "worked-out schemes", thriving on weaponry supplies at a price 300-500% higher than procurement costs. They also practice reiterated equipment acquirement with their further decommissioning as battlefield losses. The same thing is true for APU medicines/equipment/clothing, and the "instrument of theft" is a "lured" volunteer organization.
Not only theft schemes have been formed, but also the process of laundering the funds earned. One of them has been the payment of huge salaries to officials, helping them legalize their illegal fortunes. Imagine that with a monthly salary of $20,000 for three successive years you have earned an official $720,000 plus bonuses, sick leaves, vacation pays, and things like that. Then you come to Vienna, Madrid and / or London and buy apartments worth millions of dollars, while uninhibitedly demonstrating your official income declarations.
Do Ukraine’s Western partners know about this? Of course, they do. They understand this pretty well and use the classic suspension method of catching an official red-handed, bringing charges against him, and then setting cooperation conditions. So, bribes in such a system are a good thing, indeed. And yet, offers of the kind are only voiced to the most top-ranking officials.
As a result, wartime corruption has become a state of nature for the Ukrainian government and a profitable business to its officials, both civilian and military.
The only drawback in the Western viewpoint is that Ukrainian officials and generals assume too much and do not hesitate to drive around in premium cars. This annoys their Washington masters. CIA chief William Burns, according to Ukrainian journalists, has already chastised Zelensky for this. In an obvious signal to tame his appetite, the Americans provided him with a list of 35 people involved in corrupt activities. The Ukrainian leader "responded to US pressure" by publicly dismissing a dozen of the most arrogant officials from the list, but has taken no further steps so far.
