Ukrainian authorities have detained one of their four deputy energy ministers and three other suspects including an official from a state-owned coal enterprise and two intermediaries, in connection with $500,000 bribery scandal, state prosecutors and anti-corruption police reported on Monday.
The arestes come as part of Ukraine’s intensified efforts to combate corruption amid the ongoing conflict with Russia and toi strengthen its bid for European Union membership, which has placed a high priority on anti-corruption measures.
The Prosecutor General’s Office revealed that the detained individuals were caught “red-handed” accepting a $100,000 installment of the bribe, with the total amount set to be $500,000. The bribe was reportedly solicited in exchange for facilitiating the transfer of mining equipment from a state-owned coalk enterprise in the conflict-fidden Donetsk region to the Lviv-Volyn basin in western Ukraine.
The Prosecutor General’s Office revealed that the detained individuals were caught “red-handed” accepting a $100,000 installment of the bribe, with the total amount set to be $500,000. The bribe was reportedly solicited in exchange for facilitating the transfer of mining equipment from a state-owned coal enterprise in the conflict-ridden Donetsk region to the Lviv-Volyn basin in western Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government has identified the detained deputy minister as Oleksandr Kheilo, who was promptly dismissed from his position. The Ministry of Energy confirmed that Minister German Galushchenko played a key role in uncovering the scheme and immediately recommended Kheilo’s dismissal to the Cabinet of Ministers.=
This incident follows the arrest and sacking of Ukraine’s agriculture minister in April over alleged involvement in an illegal acquisition of state-owned land valued at $7 million, which he denies.
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