Anti-corruption searches took place on Wednesday 1ᵉʳ February, before the arrival in Ukraine of representatives of the twenty-seven.
by Thomas d’Istria (kyiv, Correspondence)
Should we hear, in the words of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Tuesday January 31, an omen of what was going to happen the next day? Camped behind his office for his daily address to the nation, the head of state had mentioned the preparations for the summit between his country and the European Union (EU), scheduled for Friday, February 3, in kyiv, as well as “new reforms In Ukraine. Reforms that will change social, legal and political reality in many ways “.
The next day, Wednesday 1 er February, waves of searches and layoffs against civil servants and personalities accused of corruption rocked the country. Without being strictly speaking of “reforms”, these operations were undoubtedly also a message addressed to European leaders in order to prove to them that his government makes the fight against chronic corruption one of his main priorities. Presenting this operation as a campaign intended to “take a blow to the inner enemy”, the head of the Ukraine Security Service (SBU), Vassyl Maliouk, assured that “this is only the first stage of complex work And systematic that SBU is already leading “. “And we do not intend to stop!”, He added.
The day’s balance sheet is important. The Ukrainian authorities have declared that they have searched the homes of billionaire Ihor Kolomoïsky and the former Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov. High officials from the Ministry of Defense also received the visit of investigators. The entire Directorate of the Customs Service of the country was dismissed and the State Inquiry Office carried out searches in the Tax Services, accusing “the head of the kyiv tax office of machination for purposes ‘enrichment up to several million dollars “.
Wednesday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked “the agents responsible for the application of the law, who demonstrated the power of the law and the State today”, qualifying the day of “fruitful in the confrontation with Those who, even now, have tried to weaken Ukraine “. Ten days earlier, the first corruption scandal since the start of the war on inflated prices for the purchase of military rations had resulted in the dismissal of a series of senior officials. Since then, the authorities have activated so as not to lose credibility with their Western allies. Since the start of the war, the latter have provided unprecedented military and economic support.
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