Zelenskiy promises to swiftly confront Ukraine corruption

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zeleskiy said on Sunday (22 January) that corruption was a serious problem in Ukraine and that it would not be tolerated. He also promised to take key decisions this week on removing it.

Zelenskiy's promise was made amid allegations of corruption at senior levels, including a report that alleged dubious practices in military procurement. This despite officials encouraging national unity to face the invasion.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy stated that there would be no return to the past, or to the way people who were close to state institutions or spent their whole lives trying to find a chair.

The long history of corruption in Ukraine and weak governance has been a problem. Transparency International ranked Ukraine's corruption at 122 out of 180 countries. This is not far behind Russia in 2021.

After granting Kyiv candidate status last January, the EU made anti-corruption reforms a key requirement for Ukraine's membership.

Zelenskiy stated that "this week will be the time to make appropriate decisions." "The decisions are already in place. They are not public, but I will make sure they are fair.

Zelenskiy was elected in a landslide 2019 on promises to reform the ex-Soviet government's governance. After an investigation into allegations that he had taken a bribe, Zelenskiy stated that his government had accepted resignation of a deputy minister.

Although he did not identify the official at issue, news reports claim that Vasyl Lozinskiy was taken into custody on charges of receiving a bribe.

After a newspaper reported that Oleksiy Reznikov, the defence minister, had allegedly obtained food at extremely high prices, this renewed focus on corruption also involved Oleksiy Reznikov.

Reznikov's ministry called the allegations "false", and a parliamentary panel was asked to investigate.

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