The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has detained five people and identified seven other suspects in a major graft investigation that is centering on alleged kickbacks worth some $100 million in the country’s energy sector.
The anti-corruption agency did not name the suspects in its statement but said that they included a businessman believed to be the scheme’s mastermind; a former advisor to the country’s Energy Minister; and an Executive of national atomic energy company, Energoatom.
The statement came a day after the agency revealed some details of a 15-month investigation into suspected energy sector corruption, including at Energoatom.
Large amounts of Ukrainian and foreign funds have flowed into the energy sector as infrastructure is repeatedly repaired following relentless Russian aerial attacks.
The anti-graft investigators allege that Energoatom’s suppliers were forced to pay bribes, amounting to between 10% and 15% of a contract’s value, to keep providing services and goods to the company.
They also suspect that several high-ranking officials used their connections to “maintain control over personnel decisions, procurement processes and the flow of financial resources” to run the kickback scheme.
Energoatom, a state-owned enterprise which generates more than a half of Ukraine’s energy supply, said in a statement that the probe has not disrupted production or operational safety.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his Monday night address to the nation, welcomed the latest probe. “Any effective action against corruption is an urgent need,” he said, adding that the inevitability of punishment is “necessary.”
He urged government officials to cooperate with investigators. Zelenskyy also pointed out that Energoatom currently “provides the largest share of energy generation in Ukraine.”
“Integrity within the company is a priority. In the energy sector, every industry and everyone who has been involved in corruption schemes must face clear legal consequences and convictions must be handed down.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Additionally, Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Yulia Svyrydenko said that her cabinet is prepared to assist in the investigation.
“We are awaiting the results of the procedural actions concerning the situation with Energoatom and the prompt notification of the government.
“Combating corruption is one of the government’s key priorities. There should be sentences and inevitable punishment for any offences.”
Yulia Svyrydenko
The Anti-Corruption Bureau is tasked with rooting out entrenched corruption, which is widely regarded as an impediment to Kyiv’s efforts to obtain membership in the European Union. It targets high-level corruption, particularly cases involving senior officials and state-owned enterprises.
It has previously reported uncovering a major graft scheme involving inflated military procurement contracts and the embezzlement of millions of dollars’ worth of funds earmarked to buy mortar shells for Ukraine’s efforts to foil Russia’s all-out invasion.
Attacks On Ukraine’s Energy Infrastructure Persists
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry disclosed that Russia attacked energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Odesa and Donetsk regions overnight and that scheduled power outages were in place in most regions of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s general staff also claimed that its forces struck two Russian oil refineries and an oil terminal as part of its long-range drone campaign to deny Moscow vital revenue for its war effort.
Ukrainian forces hit Russia’s Saratov oil refinery overnight for the fifth time in recent months, starting what it called a “massive fire,” the general staff said. Another target was the Orsknefteorgsintez refinery, which produces over 30 types of petroleum products and supplies the Russian military, it said.
Ukrainian forces also attacked an oil terminal in the port of Feodosia, in Russian-occupied Crimea. The terminal is used to supply fuel and lubricants to the occupied peninsula and parts of southern Ukraine.
In Moscow, Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, claimed Tuesday that it had thwarted a Ukrainian intelligence plot to recruit Russian pilots and hijack a MiG-31 fighter jet carrying a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
The FSB routinely claims to have thwarted plots against Russia, usually without providing any evidence.
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