Ukraine’s anti -corruption organs announced on Saturday (2) the discovery of a major corruption scheme involving the purchase of military drones and signal interference systems at overpriced prices.
The independence of the anti -corruption investigation and prosecution bodies – NABU (National Anti -Corruption Office) and Sapo (Specialized Anti -Corruption Prosecutor) – was restored by Parliament on Thursday (31), after an attempt to remove it caused the largest demonstrations in the country since the Russian invasion in 2022.
In a statement published on social networks, Nabu and Sapo reported that they arrested an acting parliamentarian, two local employees and an unspecified number of members of the National Guard for involvement in the. None of the suspects was identified.
“The essence of the scheme was to sign state contracts with deliberately inflated companies,” the statement says, adding that those involved received bribes of up to 30% of the contract value.
“There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to expose it and, as a result, a fair sentence,” the president wrote on Telegram.
It has broad presidential powers due to the state of war and still maintains wide approval among Ukrainians.
He was forced to retreat politically after trying to put Nabu and Frog under the control of his Attorney General, which caused the first national protests since the beginning of the war.
Subsequently, the president said he had heard popular outrage and presented a bill to restore the independence of the organs, approved by Parliament. The European allies of Ukraine praised the measure after expressing concern about the withdrawal of the autonomy of the agencies.
High European representatives had warned Zelensky that the weakening of the anti -corruption organs endangered Ukraine’s candidacy for joining the European Union.
“It is important that anti-corruption institutions act independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the conditions for a real fight against corruption,” Zelensky wrote on Saturday after meeting with the bosses of the agencies, who informed him about the new investigation.
