Ukraine defense corruption suspects enjoying relaxed conditions

Deputy Defense Minister Ihor Pavlovskiy, who was
arrested in mid-October as a suspect in a criminal case of price gouging in the
ministry’s fuel purchases, was released from house arrest based on a Nov. 9
ruling by an appellate court. Under the new arrest conditions, Pavlovskiy must
surrender his passport, can’t leave his city of residence, and can’t
communicate with others being investigated in his criminal case, which involves
price gouging at a cost of UAH 149 mln (USD 5.6 mln) to the state. He was
released under the personal guarantees offered by two soldiers who earned
Ukraine’s most prestigious honor, Hero of Ukraine.

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko said he
might have to close the criminal case against Serhiy Bondarchuk, the former
head of Ukrainian state armaments exporter Ukrspetsexport, owing to terms for
pretrial investigations shortened in October to 18 months. Bondarchuk fled to
western Europe, where countries require a process lasting between six months to
two years in order to detain him, Lutsenko said on Nov. 8, as reported by
Interfax-Ukraine.

Zenon Zawada: Alleged
corruption in Ukraine’s defense ministry has been the most harmful stain on the
nation’s image in a time of war. But exacerbating this harm has been the
failure to prosecute any high-ranking officials – or at least apply tough
measures against those arrested – which buttresses the suspicion that President
Poroshenko limits prosecutions to political rivals, not those in his entourage.

The fact that Ukrainian lawmakers haven’t approved
laws that prevent high-ranking officials from fleeing abroad before they can be
arrested is one of many reflections of their failure to properly address
corruption.

Under such conditions, Ukrainian pleas for
armaments from the U.S. look undeserving (especially amid tensions between the presidency
and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which organized the arrest of
Pavlovskiy). At minimum, the Poroshenko administration should be providing some
“scalps” to at least create the impression that defense industry corruption is
being addressed.