Ukraine Corruption
Recently,
new information has come to light on the rampant corruption in Ukraine, which
has been the subject of a major scandal in the defense Ministry. Despite the US and European Union
sending billions of dollars in aid to the country, many corrupt officials have
been siphoning off the funds for their own gain. In fact, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, America has sent almost 100 billion
dollars in aid to Ukraine, more than the amount given to Afghanistan's military
over 20 years.
Unfortunately, due to Ukraine's
notorious corruption, much of this money has ended up in the hands of Ukrainian
oligarchs rather than the people who truly need it. It is disheartening to
realize that Ukraine, like Russia, also has its own oligarchs, and they have
been using America's billions for purposes other than defense and improving the
economy. Despite this, there seems to be a reluctance to acknowledge and
discuss this issue.
Pledge
to crack down.
Several
high-ranking officials, including the deputy defense minister, have resigned
from their positions. President Zielinski, who promised to take a tough stance
against corruption, has ousted several government figures accused of exploiting
their power for personal gain.
In the past, the media frequently
reported on Ukraine's rampant corruption and antiquated practices.
These days, corruption remains a
prevalent topic in the news, particularly about allegations of corruption
against former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who was serving as a
governor in Ukraine and is now imprisoned. While it is clear that Russia's
invasion of Ukraine was a grave transgression, some argue that the nearly $100
billion in aid provided to Ukraine warrants greater accountability for the use
of these funds. After all, this money comes from the pockets of American
taxpayers and should not be squandered. Unfortunately, corruption in Ukraine
remains a major problem, with officials accused of abusing their positions and
engaging in unethical behavior at an alarming rate.
How
the corruption started.
Ukraine became independent from the Soviet
Union in 1991 but here's the thing about living under a Soviet dictator for
almost 70 years. People started forgetting what it takes to run a country on
their own.
That's exactly what happened to Ukraine when
it officially split from the Soviet Union it was left with a massive power
vacuum. It needed a president, a constitution loss caused a working government.
That stuff doesn't just appear out of thin
air overnights so who stepped out to the plate to guide Ukraine to its new
independent future?
The same powerful families and businesses
thrive during Ukraine's Soviet years. Suddenly control and corruption became
a core part of how the new Ukraine was run.
Like bribery putting family members in
positions of power, and backdoor deals these things are worth the exception.
They weren't crimes they weren't forced upon the Ukrainian government they were
fundamental to how the government functioned.
It's crazy to think about this if you live in
the west. This is how most small countries operate in America, if a government
official was caught bribing his way into his position, everyone is all up in
arms.
But in Ukraine bribes and favors from
powerful friends were the only way to get into office. nothing could get done
without greasing the right palms, and scratching the right backs, but here's
the thing about corruption, as much as it was part of everyday life in Ukraine.
It was tapping the country to dry off all its resources. like when Russia first
invaded Ukraine in 2014, and none of the country's Security Forces had the
money equipment, or training it needed to stop it,
That is all thanks to Decades of Ukrainian
oligarchs siphoning money away from its intended uses.
By 2014 Ukraine and the rest of the world
realized it had a massive problem on its hands. How could Ukraine ever dream of
becoming part of NATO or the EU? if it couldn't even control its own government
and as much as Ukraine's leadership made a big show of rooting out corruption.
Things just went from bad to worse for more
than 30 years. Ukraine did very little to stop the corruption in the
government. the only real step it took towards rooting out corrupt businesses
was a public procurement system called prozoro.
Sure prozaro probably did help
make running a business fairer and easier but it didn't really do anything
about government corruption.
So government corruption just got worse and
worse. One man in charge of regional transportation in Ukraine took bribes in
exchange for allocating mini-bus routes to certain companies and drivers. He
drove a sports car even though his salary was only around 170 per month.
When people found out what he was doing, he
was fired but then he quickly got another job doing the exact same thing in a
different district and that was just one example of the lower end of the
Ukrainian government.
Just this year it was revealed that the
ministry of defense's head of procurement had paid 2.7 million dollars for 3
thousand bulletproof vests, later turns up the vests weren't bulletproof and
were unable to properly protect Ukrainian Soldiers. But that didn't matter the
official got the money from the real bulletproof vests and bought cheaper ones.
That's not even the worst of it one
government official took an almost four hundred thousand dollar bribe to buy
overpriced generators. While most of Ukraine doesn't have access to a stable
power supply. The Ministry of Defense signed off on contracts for two supplies
of shoes and food that cost two to three times the regular price(Click
here for the media report). And these are just a few examples that we know
of and how these Ukrainian cronies enjoy all this American money they're
getting.
But no matter how much Ukrainian corruption
was being exposed the government refused to do anything about it. In 2016
Ukraine's ex-president even accused anyone reporting on Ukrainian corruption of
signing with Russia.
Get
Europe away from Russian natural Gas.
It's the perfect time to overthrow
Putin. it's the perfect time to get Europe away from Russian natural gas and
have them switch over to
American Natural Gas.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice has admitted, “To
know for the long run you simply want to change the structure of energy
dependence. it's also a great way to test America's ability to mobilize military
equipment for war it's very profitable for the military-industrial complex
reconstructing”(See
the video).
Ukraine would be very profitable for firms
like BlackRock. it will open up Ukraine even more to American
corporations once it's over there are a ton of different reasons. Because of
all these reasons that America needs to do whatever it takes to maintain
Ukraine's appearance as a faultless victim, that America needs to keep sending
money. It is Why this is probably the first time you're hearing about a lot of
the stuff it's why anyone who trusts a report on corruption in Ukraine or the
misuse of American Aid is anti-democratic or citing where Russia is.
Now
the truth is starting to come out.
Ukrainian anti-corruption activists have been
digging up dirt on the government that has been trying to hide. These activists
are risking everything to publish reports on corruption even though they know
criticizing the Ukrainian government during wartime could get them in real
trouble and so far their efforts have been paying off in the past few months.
Some of Ukraine's most important officials
have either resigned or zeliski has had to fire them over corruption charges
the end goal of America is clear America wants to open up Ukraine for business
so that American corporations can come in and siphon the Country Dry.
Just like what America has done with other
countries from time to time. And one of the last countries they did this to was
Iraq. Hillary Clinton admitted that “Iraq was a literal business
opportunity and so it's time for the United States to start thinking of Iraq as
a business opportunity”(Click for admitting video). They don't even try to hide these things.
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