00:00Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau says a former Deputy Prime Minister is a suspect in its investigation of a major corruption scheme in the energy sector.
00:10The Bureau said in a statement that it recorded a total of $1.2 million being transferred to the official, whom it didn't name in line with Ukrainian law.
00:19Another suspect, reportedly an associate of Vladimir Zelensky, fled the country as police raided his Kyiv home.
00:25Ukrainian authorities leveled charges against seven people in an investigation into an alleged $100 million kickback scheme involving senior energy officials.
00:35Ukraine is under pressure to crack down on corruption as it seeks European Union membership
00:40and courts critical financial support from Western partners while fending off, as we've been reporting, massive Russian military attacks on its energy system.
00:50Its infrastructure has been under constant fire since the start of Russia's invasion.
00:57Now, Ukraine's energy sector also faces inquests from within.
01:02The country's anti-corruption agency is accusing national nuclear power provider Energoatom of siphoning over $100 million through a series of illegal kickback schemes.
01:13Energoatom is a key company that provides more than 50% of Ukraine's energy.
01:20It is very important that the investigation is conducted transparently and openly.
01:25And all individuals, if proven guilty, will face zero tolerance for corruption.
01:32Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau says it uncovered the high-level criminal scheme over the span of a 15-month investigation.
01:40It alleges Energoatom forced contractors to pay kickback fees of up to 15% or risk losing their supplier status.
01:49The accusations have stoked fresh public anger at a time of widespread power outages in Ukraine
01:55and have placed the country's president under renewed scrutiny.
01:59Earlier this year, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law that severely restricted the power of Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies
02:06before making a U-turn following mass popular protests.
02:10Faced with the latest allegations, the Ukrainian president vowed to crack down on any form of graft.
02:17Effective measures against corruption are urgently needed.
02:22Punishment must be inevitable.
02:25There must be convictions and government officials must work for law enforcement agencies to achieve results.
02:33Two of Ukraine's opposition parties on Monday filed parliamentary motions to oust part of Zelensky's cabinet over the corruption scandal.
02:42There's more. Ukrainian authorities have dismissed the supervisory board of the nuclear energy agency, Energoatom,
02:48after this corruption investigation launched into alleged corrupt activity.
02:52These are the words of Prime Minister Yulia Sverdenko.
02:55Sverdenko also saying a new audit of the company will be conducted.
02:58And it's emerging a key ally of Zelensky then organising a scheme of corruption of $100 million worth according to the investigation.
03:06Let's get some assessment of the impact this is having in Ukraine
03:11and bring in Peter Zalmayev, founder and director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative.
03:15Peter joining us live from Kiev.
03:17Peter, pleasure to have you on the programme as always.
03:19What effect is this going to have on Ukraine across the board?
03:26It's nothing pleasant for Ukraine or for the president, let me remind you.
03:31It's bittersweet for him and for the opposition that you just mentioned in the lead-up,
03:36including President Poroshenko who, if you recall, lost his bid for second term largely
03:44because of a very similar corruption scandal on the part of some of the people that were associated with his team
03:51and also had a hand in some allegedly corrupt dealings with the defence sector.
03:57So we're seeing a repeat of this.
03:59And now, as I've also mentioned in the lead-up, very shady circumstances leading up to this.
04:05The guy was probably informed before the search of his apartment would take place
04:13and that he was able to leave the country.
04:15It's not the first time.
04:16It's happened throughout this three-and-a-half-year period of war.
04:19People have fled.
04:21As difficult as it is to flee Ukraine, these people are able to do that.
04:26A lot of questions, serious scandal for the president.
04:30On the one hand, you can say that there's transparency and even his former allies,
04:36such as this guy who's been connected to the president for some time,
04:39they're being held accountable.
04:41But let's see this accountability.
04:43The guy is out of the country.
04:44We cannot expect him to be extradited anytime soon.
04:47These things take a long time.
04:50And once again, this does nothing to instill any more confidence in the Ukrainians
04:55in this ongoing war effort in a period where we need all the help we can get.
05:00You know, allegations of millions of dollars of, you know, money stolen from the taxpayers
05:07or from Western assistance.
05:09Of course, this is not anything to be excited about.
05:12As you point out, this could not come at a worse time, could it?
05:16Because Ukraine needs that help and needs that good faith from its Western allies,
05:21from the U.S., from everybody, really, to continue with this war effort.
05:25So this couldn't really happen at a worse time.
05:28Would it be fair to say, Peter, that how this is dealt with is going to be the important thing?
05:34Solensky has come out and said that there needs to be transparency
05:37and people need to be held accountable.
05:39But it's a question of how this goes forward and whether that is seen to happen,
05:43whether that is seen to be done.
05:46Indeed.
05:47And, you know, once again, coming back to the idea of accountability,
05:50I mean, it was paraded on Ukrainian TV how the bribes were taken.
05:55And, of course, U.S. dollars denominated in the U.S. currency
05:59and with various stamps on the stacks of money indicating individual United States,
06:05states of the United States of America.
06:07This could be father to all the detractors of Ukraine in America, in Washington.
06:14And we cannot afford that sort of thing, of course.
06:17We have yet to see true accountability on the part of this government,
06:23even though, you know, once again, it's not the first corruption scandal that has been uncovered.
06:28But we've seen scandals before and some serious allegations, which it's not clear where they have gone.
06:36I mean, there have been trials.
06:38The trials have dragged on.
06:40Where are the people who have actually gone to jail and are doing a hard time?
06:44It's not clear in the public's mind that this has been happening other than on lower levels.
06:50You know, now we're talking about serious, serious level of individuals connected directly to the president,
06:58one of whom has fled the country.
07:00I hope for Ukraine's sake and for President Zelensky's sake that he's able to put on a credible demonstration of accountability.
07:09You mentioned Petro Poloshenko, previous president of Ukraine, lost his bid for power because of a corruption scandal.
07:18That really hurt his possibility of getting elected.
07:22I'm wondering, and you just hinted at it there, Peter, how is this going to affect Vladimir Zelensky?
07:28Will this basically tarnish his image abroad?
07:31So far, of course, in his role as wartime leader of Ukraine, going back to that speech where he said,
07:38I'm here, I don't want to ride, I want weapons to fight against the Russians.
07:43I think he went up immensely in most people's estimations across the world for that courage.
07:49Will this scandal take the shine off that, do you think?
07:54I mean, once again, if he lets this one go, it won't do anything to, you know, burnish his image, of course.
08:01Once again, the crucial component here is Washington.
08:04And this does nothing to instill confidence in our allies there.
08:08Especially now that we are expecting Donald Trump to follow up on his decision to slap sanctions on Russia.
08:15They're actually due to go into effect at the end of this month.
08:18We're also expecting continued military aid and maybe even tomahawks.
08:23That complicates the effort.
08:25So once again, it's in the interest of the president and Ukraine for him to act decisively.
08:31You know, the longer this goes on, this sort of lack of accountability, this gives fodder to rumors swirling about potential replacements for Zelensky,
08:43including, you know, the former commander-in-chief and apparently Ukrainian ambassador in London, Mr. Valery Zelushny.
08:50He was a, you know, very popular figure.
08:52And according to polls, he's the only person who could beat Zelensky at the polls, even though he has said that he's not planning to run as this war is continuing.
09:00As you know, the U.S.-Ukrainian constitution does not allow for it.
09:04And that's what keeps, you know, I guess, keeps Zelensky confident that he can weather any storms because, you know, she's been there for as long as the war continues.
09:13But once the war is over, when it's over, this is going to be a different story.
09:17Indeed, there is a sense of getting rid of the main problem, which is the war.
09:20But, of course, underneath it, that problem of corruption, which is something that has been there and is important in order to further Ukraine's chances of EU membership as well.
09:28Peter Zalmayev, as always, pleasure to have you on France 24.
09:31Peter Zalmayev, the director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative.
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