Ukraine politicians allege corruption in National Guard, tax inspection

The leadership of the National Guard of Ukraine employs pro-Russian high-ranking officers, systematically destroying volunteer battalions under its direction and indulging in systemic corruption, alleged MP Andriy Biletskiy, the former leader of the Azov volunteer battalion, in a blog published on Jan. 14 on the pravda.com.ua news site. “The National Guard’s leadership is a direct threat to the country’s defense capabilities,” Biletskiy reported, adding that he will publish evidence proving that a third of all its costs are stolen.

State Fiscal Service Head Roman Nasirov is assisting his father-in-law, a leading builder in Ukraine, in tax evasion, alleged on Jan. 14 Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Odesa regional administration head who is planning to compete in Ukraine’s next elections. Saakashvili outlined the alleged scheme on his Facebook page. He has frequently accused Nasirov of corruption ever since he became Odesa administration head in May 2015. (He resigned in November.)

Zenon Zawada: Such reports don’t help Ukraine’s case among the Western public, which is deep into its latest case of “Ukraine fatigue.” While it’s positive that corruption is being exposed to the public, it’s unhelpful when such reports concern highly sensitive areas, such as the military and National Guard. Such reports beg the question of why the West should get involved with the Ukrainian military when it might not be reliable to handle such aid.

Indeed, the Ukrainian government has had a public relations problem ever since the war began, to a large extent due to the president’s own inability to make reliable statements and form consistent policies. While free speech needs to be preserved, the government wouldn’t be having such problems if it created a system – formal or informal – of internally addressing corruption, rather than having such dirty laundry hung out to dry.