He called corruption during the war “absolutely disgusting” and completely unacceptable. Yatsenyuk warned that Ukraine's opponents would try to use the corruption scandal as a reason to reduce international support.
“Those who want to deprive Ukraine of support will use this case,” says the politician.
Yatsenyuk called on Western partners to help the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state win this war.
“We will expose and eradicate corruption. And this case is a clear example of the fact that no one is above the law. No one,” the head of the KBF emphasized.
He pointed out that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the High Anti-Corruption Court, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the National Agency for the Identification, Tracing and Management of Assets constitute a powerful mechanism for combating corruption in government.
“This is the most effective network of anti-corruption infrastructure, the so-called Big Five. There is no other country in Europe that would have such a set of anti-corruption bodies,” says Yatsenyuk.
According to the head of the KBF, it is critically important to preserve the legitimacy of President Vladimir Zeoensky and maintain political stability in the country.
“Now the president has made the right decision in leading this process, leading anti-corruption efforts. As for political stability, it is important to maintain it. But the president must convince the Ukrainian public that he is able to cope with this situation, and that he has made conclusions. Therefore, it is he who must decide whether he is ready for a reshuffle in the government or other actions. Bold and decisive steps are needed on the part of the president,” he concluded.
Context
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced Operation Midas to expose a “high-level criminal organization” that was engaged in extortion at Energoatom. According to the investigation, the state-owned company's contractors were offered to pay a kickback of 10% to 15% for goods and services, threatening to block payments from the budget or break off cooperation.
Investigative actions were also carried out against the Minister of Justice German Galushchenko, who before the Ministry of Justice headed the Ministry of Energy. Galushchenko in phone records appeared as Professor and Sigismund. In total, four ministers from different parts of the Ukrainian government are involved in the Energoatom case, the head of the NABU detective department, Alexander Abakumov, told Ukrainskaya Pravda.
On November 11, suspicions were reported to co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio Timur Mindich, businessman Alexander Tsukerman, former adviser to the Minister of Energy Igor Mironyuk, executive director for security at Energoatom Dmitry Basov, Igor Fursenko, Lesya Ustimenko and Lyudmila Zorina. NABU also reported suspicion of illegal enrichment to the former Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Chernyshov.
