Several Top Ukrainian Officials Resigns In An Effort To Fight Corruption

Several top Ukrainian officials resigns in an effort to fight corruption as President Volodymyr Zelensky starts to change the way his government works. On Tuesday, a top adviser, four deputy ministers, and five governors of different parts of the country all quit their jobs.

Their leaving comes as Ukraine starts a big campaign against corruption. Officials have been accused of taking bribes and buying food at inflated prices, and one person has been accused of living a lavish lifestyle.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser, said that Mr. Zelensky was answering a "key public demand" that justice should be the same for everyone. The president has already told government officials that they can't leave the country unless they have a reason to.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the president's deputy head of office, who was in charge of regional policy and had worked on Mr. Zelensky's election campaign, was the first person to quit on Tuesday.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, he was often asked to speak for the government. Ukrainian investigative reporters say he used several expensive sports cars during the war, but he denies doing anything wrong. He thanked Mr. Zelensky in a Telegram message for giving him "the opportunity to do good deeds every day and every minute."

COPYRIGHT_WI: Published on https://washingtonindependent.com/several-top-ukrainian-officials-resigns-in-an-effort-to-fight-corruption/ by Kenzo Norman on 2023-01-26T02:47:35.684Z

Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was the deputy defense minister, also quit after it was said that he was in charge of buying food for the military from a small company at inflated prices. The department said that this was a "technical mistake" and that no money had been moved. The same thing has been said about Oleksii Reznikov, who is the minister of defense.

• Oleskiy Symonenko, the deputy prosecutor general, and a number of other top officials were also fired on Tuesday.
• Ivan Lukerya, who is the Deputy Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories,
• Deputy Minister for Community and Territorial Development Vyacheslav Negoda,
• Deputy Minister for Social Policy Vitaliy Muzychenko,
• And the governors of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Sumy, and Kherson.

Ukraine has a long history of corruption, and in 2021, Transparency International put the country at number 122 out of 180 in its list of corrupt states. If the country wants to move forward with its application to join the EU, this is one of the most important things the EU wants to see.

In a speech on Sunday, Mr. Zelensky said that there would be "no return to what used to be in the past, to the way various people close to state institutions" used to live. His words came after Ukraine's Deputy Infrastructure Minister Vasyl Lozinskyi was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of taking a bribe of more than £285,000 (about $350,000) over the supply of electricity generators. He has said he is not guilty.

The leader of Mr. Zelensky's Servant of the People party, David Arakhamia, has said that corrupt officials could go to jail.

According to him in a Telegram statement:

Conclusion

There is a lot at stake for Kyiv, which receives billions of euros in help from Western countries, despite the fact that there have been improvements to combat corruption in the previous several years.

About The Authors

Kenzo Norman - Kenzo is a journalist-turned-marketer who is fascinated by how storytelling and targeted marketing can result in content that changes businesses. He is responsible for implementing inbound marketing strategies that help his clients raise brand awareness, generate leads, and gain new customers as an Account Executive. Jason enjoys reading on the beach, tracking down mono records, and playing guitar when he is not working.