Saturday 27th of April 2024
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zelensky wants his cut....

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has called on the German government to abandon its policy of financially supporting Ukrainian refugees on its territory and divert the cash to Kiev instead. The scheme would make aid mechanisms more transparent, he argued in an interview with the public German broadcaster ARD over the weekend.

 

People who have fled Ukraine and moved to Germany currently receive financial assistance from both countries, Zelensky claimed in the interview, released on Monday by his administration. This needs to change, he insisted.

“It would be better if Germany supported Ukrainians by giving money to the budget of Ukraine,” the president said. He added that the government in Kiev would then distribute the funds, depending on each person’s whereabouts.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) – a major German think tank – Berlin spent almost €14 billion ($15.19 billion) on Ukrainian refugees between January 24, 2022 and October 31, 2023. Germany has become the second biggest donor to Ukrainian refugees – after Poland, which surpassed €15.6 billion ($16.93 billion) over the same period, according to IfW.

Zelensky’s plea comes as Kiev faces a crunch in its cash lifeline from Western backers. Last month, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal allegedly requested an emergency meeting with Western donors to discuss “exceptionally high uncertainty” over its budget, Bloomberg reported.

The finance ministry in Kiev said at the time that fiscal needs for 2024 were estimated at $37.3 billion, despite having received more than $42 billion in foreign aid last year. Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko also warned in December that Ukraine might suffer a deficit in the first two months of the year.

Ukraine has been rocked by a number of corruption scandals over the last few months, including some involving senior government officials. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry revealed $262 million in military corruption-related costs, citing an internal audit. Transparency International recently ranked the country 104th out of 180 in its Corruption Perceptions Index report.

In mid-January, German outlet Der Spiegel weekly also reported that the government in Berlin was unsure where its military aid sent to Ukraine ended up. Berlin’s massive military assistance to Kiev was left unsupervised, as German policymakers relied on assurances from Kiev, the paper said.

https://www.rt.com/russia/591558-zelensky-germany-money-refugees-ukraine/

 

SEE ALSO: the vultures of dollarville.....

 

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tip of the iceberg.....

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has claimed that an internal probe of the country’s military procurement practices revealed $262 million in theft-related costs; the alleged perpetrators may be criminally prosecuted amid a crackdown on corruption.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Monday announced the results of an investigation that began when he took the job four months ago. He said the ministry is working to cleanse the country’s military of “unscrupulous participants, inside and outside the institution,” as well as collaborating with law enforcement agencies to hold corrupt officials accountable.

“We are eradicating corruption,” Umerov insisted. “The system resists, but we will overcome it.” He added that news of corruption arrests and prosecutions will become more common, and a new “procurement architecture,” based on NATO standards, will help prevent future theft.

Ukraine consistently ranks as one of the world’s most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International. A CBS News report in August 2022 indicated that waste and corruption were preventing about 70% of the Western weaponry being donated to Kiev from making it to the battlefield. When Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky introduced Umerov as the country’s new defense ministerlast September, he identified curbing corruption as one of the five key priorities for the job.

Umerov said the Defense Ministry worked with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) last month to foil a corruption plot involving a $39 million ammunition transaction. Changes in procurement practices helped save about $92 million, or 20%, on non-weapons purchases. For instance, negotiations on the purchase of headphones cut the price by more than $300,000.

“We are rebuilding procurement mechanisms to ensure the continued delivery of weapons and non-lethal supplies to the armed forces,” Umerov said. “From now on, the Defense Ministry sets the rules of the game, forms policy and controls bidding.”

READ MORE: Zelensky aide complains about rampant corruption

The Ukrainian military saw multiple corruption scandals under Umerov’s predecessor, Aleksey Reznikov, including food purchases at inflated prices and the acquisition of jackets that reportedly almost tripled in cost between when they were shipped and when they were delivered. Zelensky fired the directors of Ukraine’s 33 military recruitment centers in August because they allegedly took bribes to sign off on bogus medical exemptions for would-be soldiers who were desperate to avoid conscription.

READ MORE: Ukraine’s new defense minister investigated for corruption – media

 

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corrupt....

European Union leaders on Thursday reached a deal to provide €50 billion in aid to Ukraine — and they were in unanimous agreement after some leaders persuaded the sole holdout, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, to drop his veto.

“All 27 leaders agreed on an additional €50 billion support package for Ukraine within the EU budget,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote on X, a few minutes after the formal start of the Council meeting on Thursday.

“This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “grateful” to Charles Michel and EU leaders for establishing the €50 billion Ukraine Facility.

“It is very important that the decision was made by all 27 leaders, which once again proves strong EU unity,” Zelenskyy tweeted.

“Continued EU financial support for Ukraine will strengthen long-term economic and financial stability, which is no less important than military assistance and sanctions pressure on Russia,” he added.

The European leaders managed to win over Orbán with three additions, diplomats said. There will be an annual report by the European Commission on the implementation of the aid package, there will be a debate at leaders' level on the implementation of the package and, if it is needed, in two years the European Council will ask the Commission propose a review of the new budget, according to the latest version of the draft European Council conclusions.

EU leaders added a line referring to earlier conclusions from December 2020 to guarantee that the way the rule of law in Hungary is evaluated by the European Commission is done in a fair and objective manner.

This is music to Orbán’s ears, as the 2020 text has implications for the €6.3 billion of EU cohesion funds that were frozen for Hungary over rule-of-law shortcomings.

https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-gets-eu-aid-as-orban-folds/

 

If one does not call this blackmail, one is a crook.... But Orban would be alughinhluaughing.... He got his hard cash and Zelenky is going to piss the EU money against the porcelain....

All's well in Kakaland.... 

 

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stealing....

Ukrainian military and politicial leaders don’t believe in victory and are stealing Western aid on a massive scale, the former commander of Poland’s land forces, General Waldemar Skrzypczak, has said in an interview with the newspaper Fakt.

The statement comes as Kiev attempts to secure more funding amid its supporters’ growing reluctance to provide further assistance. So far, more than 41 countries, including Poland, have committed a total of €92.5 billion ($100 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, according to the Ukraine Support Tracker of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Ukraine’s Western donors risk losing substantial sums, as the country has weathered a number of corruption scandals over the last few months.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Saturday the uncovering of a major embezzlement scheme involving high-ranking defense ministry officials and a private arms manufacturer.

“It turns out that the weakest link in Ukraine are politicians and military officers who steal from their army. This is not the first such scandal. Those who steal do this consciously expecting that Ukraine will lose the war. How can you wage war without ammunition? There are hundreds of millions of dollars embezzled by Ukrainians,” Skrzypczak said.

Five suspects among them employees of the Ministry of Defense and the management of an arms company attempted to steal 1.5 billion hryvnia (around $39.6 million) in state funds intended for acquiring mortar shells for Ukrainian troops, according to the SBU. The agency said the company Lviv Arsenal had received an order for a batch of 100,000 rounds in August 2022, six months after the start of the conflict. However, Lviv Arsenal “didn’t send a single mortar shell to our country” but instead put the money in the accounts of an affiliated company “based in the Balkans,” the SBU said.

Reining in corruption is one of the conditions the European Union has set for Ukraine as it seeks membership. However, embezzlement issues are still dogging the armed forces and the defense ministry.

 

https://www.rt.com/russia/591582-ukrainian-politicians-stealing-western-aid/

 

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