Ukraine nuclear corruption scandal ensnares Zelensky’s friend. The timing couldn’t be worse

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova posted on Facebook: “This was one of those nights after which we had to take stock of our colleagues in the EU Delegation.” “We are still counting and praying that everyone is alive.”

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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters the corruption scandal was “extremely unfortunate” and said Kiev should “take this very seriously”.

Ukraine’s two main anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, announced during the week a wide-ranging corruption investigation that could ensnare associates close to Zelensky.

Over the summer, Zelensky’s office tried and failed to effectively sterilize these observers, triggering mass protests in Ukraine and prompting a rare public condemnation from Brussels. He eventually backed away from efforts to restrict the independence of institutions.

In the scheme, investigators revealed this week, the perpetrators netted nearly US$100 million ($153 million) in kickbacks from contracts signed by state nuclear energy company Energoatom.

Detectives said some of the contracts were for building structures to protect power facilities as Russian missile attacks destroyed the Ukrainian power grid, causing power outages and shutting off heat when the weather got cold.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk and Justice Minister German Galushchenko resigned on Wednesday at the president’s request over the scandal. Tymur Mindich, the president’s former business partner, who was shown as one of the central figures of the plan, fled the country.

While European leaders have assured that they will continue to support Ukraine’s defense and advance plans to use frozen Russian assets to do so, they are now warning Kiev to put pressure on it and demanding a response.

But the timing of the statements could not be worse, with Zelensky calling for new funding from European backers. New rules allowing young Ukrainian men who are not yet subject to military service to travel outside the country have also led to a recent influx of people into European countries.

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Merz said Ukrainians, especially young men, should “serve their country” instead of going to Germany.

According to Ministry of Internal Affairs figures, the number of Ukrainian men aged 18-22 entering the country rose from 19 per week in mid-August to between 1,400 and almost 1,800 per week in October.

Ukraine’s promise to crack down on widespread corruption is being scrutinized as a condition for securing EU aid and moving forward with its goal of joining the bloc.

Since the Trump administration scaled back U.S. support, Zelensky’s European partners have become major providers of financial and military aid to Ukraine and are brainstorming ways to inject money into Kiev, which is facing a budget crunch. One proposal was to tap dormant Russian state assets worth approximately US$200 billion, but that effort ran into numerous obstacles.

Ukraine has long struggled with a troubling legacy of corruption from the Soviet era and the early years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukrainian citizens took to the streets in anger to condemn corrupt officials and demand democratic reforms, including during the Orange Revolution in 2004-2005 and the Maidan Revolution in 2014.

European officials said they had no choice but to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s brutal attacks, while also calling on Kiev to stamp out corruption.

Asked whether the statements had shaken the EU’s confidence, Lithuanian Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekunas responded bluntly: “Maybe, but what other options do we have?”

Vaitiekunas said Ukraine was fighting “for its own freedom and the right to choose its way of life” and therefore “despite the scandal, there was no other option.”

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Since Russia launched its invasion of its neighbor in 2022, the EU and its member states have donated more than $200 billion to Ukraine in financial, humanitarian and military aid, including grants, loans and in-kind support, according to the bloc’s figures.

The EU has previously suspended aid payments to Ukraine due to stalled reforms, including this summer. Before the latest investigation, EU officials noted previous corruption concerns and promised to track all cash payments if the bloc allowed Ukraine access to its huge stash of Russian money.

European officials have focused on Russian assets as leaders grapple with alarm bells about taxpayer fatigue, economic woes, a U.S. withdrawal and a budget crisis in Ukraine next year.

However, the plan, which Moscow strongly condemned, hit a dead end due to concerns about the legal, financial and political risks of Belgium, where most of the frozen money is held.

While the European Commission tries to assuage Belgian concerns and develop alternatives to seizing Russian money, EU leaders have postponed a decision on access to the money until at least December.

Other options include joint borrowing backed by the EU budget or an agreement for countries to “raise the necessary capital on their own”, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

EU diplomats say the commission is promoting the idea of ​​picking member states’ pockets as a way of sending the message that using dormant funds is the easiest approach.

“It’s entirely fair to discuss all the consequences of doing something, but it’s important to remember that not doing something, the consequences of Europe failing in Ukraine, will also have an impact,” Danish Economy Minister Stephanie Lose told reporters.

“We don’t grow money on trees,” Lose said. “This is also a reflection of how difficult it is to find viable options.”

But the embezzlement scandal in Ukraine has given ammunition to those skeptical of European aid to Kiev; Chief among them is Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly prime minister, Viktor Orban, who is trying to block both Ukraine’s EU financing and membership.

“The wartime mafia network with numerous ties to President Zelensky has been exposed,” Orban said on social media. “This is the very chaos into which the Brussels elite want to pour European taxpayers’ money.”

Critics of U.S. financial support to Ukraine also frequently mentioned the issue of corruption.

Mercier, the Commission’s EU enlargement spokesman, said that as part of the country’s bid to join the EU, Ukrainian authorities must be committed to improving the way they monitor state-owned enterprises and public procurement.

He said Kiev also needs to establish a solid track record of enforcement “especially regarding high-level corruption cases.”

Joining the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc, would take years and depend on the EU monitoring governance, anti-corruption and other reforms.

In reports this month on candidate countries’ progress, the commission praised Ukraine for its wartime reforms but also warned of “limited progress” in fighting corruption.

Washington Post

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