Member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance continue to support Ukraine, despite the corruption scandal involving high-ranking officials. At the same time, NATO representatives acknowledge that these events have complicated cooperation with partners, but they have not led to a reduction in aid.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Strict Control Over Supplies and Mechanisms to Prevent Corruption
One anonymous alliance diplomat explained that NATO member countries apply strict control mechanisms when providing assistance. In particular, when it comes to procurement from the Ukrainian defense industry, orders are placed and paid for directly by the donor country, and only then are the goods transferred to Ukraine as aid. This significantly complicates the possibility of corruption schemes arising around such transactions.
“Every time we provide support to Ukraine, we have a very strict control mechanism… When we place orders with the Ukrainian defense industry, which we are doing more frequently because we want to strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base, we place the orders ourselves, pay for them, and then donate the goods to Ukraine. So this is already a preventive measure: it is much more difficult to have corruption around this transaction,” said a diplomat from one of the alliance’s countries.
Other diplomats emphasize that the fight against corruption in Ukraine is ongoing and consider this a positive signal for partners. At the same time, in some NATO countries, political forces are increasingly calling for an audit of the use of the provided aid.
NABU Investigations and Reactions from the Suspects
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine announced the exposure of a criminal organization that received illegal benefits from Energoatom contractors, ranging from 10% to 15% of the value of the concluded contracts. Eight individuals have been named as suspects in this case. Among them are businessman and co-founder of the Kvartal-95 studio Timur Mindich, former advisor to the Minister of Energy Igor Mironyuk, and Alexander Tsukerman, who worked in the so-called “back office for money laundering.”
Alexander Tsukerman, named among the suspects, categorically denied the accusations from NABU and SAP, calling them “lies,” and promised to return to Ukraine to participate in the investigation. Timur Mindich, according to the investigation, left the territory of Ukraine on the night of November 10 and has not publicly commented on the case. Both have been declared wanted, and the National Security and Defense Council has imposed sanctions against them.