New York Times je objavil raziskavo o korupciji v Ukrajini in ugotovil, da je sistemske narave in da je Zelenski načrtno sabotiral nadzor nad porabo denarja oziroma koruptivnimi praksami. Oziroma da je s sistematskim saboriranjem oblikovanja nadzornih organov omogočil razcvet sistemske korupcije. Evropski politiki priznavajo, da je korupcija v Ukrajini ogromna, vendar da je to potrebno tolerirati, ker je v vojni z Rusijo.
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Kyiv’s Western allies faced a dilemma: how to spend billions supporting a government fighting Russia without watching the money vanish into the pockets of corrupt managers and government officials.
The stakes were high because Ukraine’s vital wartime industries — power distribution, weapons purchases and nuclear energy — were controlled by state-owned companies that have long served as piggy banks for the country’s elite.
To protect their money, the United States and European nations insisted on oversight. They required Ukraine to allow groups of outside experts, known as supervisory boards, to monitor spending, appoint executives and prevent corruption.
Over the past four years, a New York Times investigation found, the Ukrainian government systematically sabotaged that oversight, allowing graft to flourish.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration has stacked boards with loyalists, left seats empty or stalled them from being set up at all. Leaders in Kyiv even rewrote company charters to limit oversight, keeping the government in control and allowing hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent without outsiders poking around.
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They are also central to the corruption scandal swirling around Mr. Zelensky’s government. Anti-corruption authorities have accused members of his inner circle of siphoning off and laundering $100 million from the state-owned nuclear power company, Energoatom.
Mr. Zelensky’s administration has blamed Energoatom’s supervisory board for failing to stop the corruption. But it was Mr. Zelensky’s government itself that neutered Energoatom’s supervisory board, The Times found.
In documents and interviews with about 20 Western and Ukrainian officials who have worked closely with company boards or served on them, The Times found political interference not only at Energoatom but also at the state-owned electricity company Ukrenergo as well as at Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency.
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European leaders have privately criticized but reluctantly tolerated Ukrainian corruption for years, reasoning that supporting the fight against Russia’s invasion was paramount. So, even as Ukraine undermined outside oversight, European money kept flowing.
“We do care about good governance, but we have to accept that risk,” said Christian Syse, the special envoy to Ukraine from Norway, one of Kyiv’s top donors. He added: “Because it’s war. Because it’s in our own interest to help Ukraine financially. Because Ukraine is defending Europe from Russian attacks.”
The political meddling with Energoatom’s supervisory board is a case study in how Ukraine’s leaders have blocked efforts to prevent corruption. The Zelensky administration delayed the formation of Energoatom’s board and, when it finally came together, the government left a seat empty — impeding the board’s ability to act.
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With the United States retreating, Europe is left to confront Kyiv’s handling of corruption. But so far, “the Europeans are creating a permissive environment for this kind of backsliding,” said Tyson Barker, a former State Department official overseeing Ukraine’s economic recovery.
The European Commission, the administrative arm of the European Union, quietly commissioned a report this year into corruption risks in Ukraine’s energy industry. A copy of the report, obtained by The Times, warned of “persistent political interference.” The report, by the Ukrainian Facility Platform, a nonprofit research group, singled out Kyiv’s undermining of supervisory boards as a critical problem.
Vir: New York Times
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