The Ukrainian government has suspended Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko from his duties, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko announced on Wednesday in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation.
Csatlakozz a Telegram-csatornánkhoz!
“We held an extraordinary government meeting this morning. We decided to suspend Herman Halushchenko from his position as justice minister,” the prime minister said in a statement posted on Telegram. The duties of the justice minister will be performed by Liudmyla Sukhak, who previously served as his deputy.
The Ukrainian news agency Unian — as summarized in Hungary by Index — reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) had released new audio recordings of participants in large-scale fraud at Energoatom, the company operating Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. Among those involved is “probably” Herman Halushchenko, the former energy minister and later justice minister.
Halushchenko stated that his suspension during the investigation was a “civilized and proper scenario,” adding that he would defend himself through legal means and prove his position. “I fully agree: a political decision must be made first, and the details clarified afterwards. Neither now nor in the future will I insist on remaining in my ministerial post,” he declared.
NABU and SAPO also announced that they had launched a corruption investigation in the energy sector. Searches were conducted at Energoatom and at the homes of Herman Halushchenko and Timur Mindich, a businessman close to President Volodymyr Zelensky — MTI reported.
At this point, only two things remain.
1. It seems Ukraine simply cannot rid itself of that pesky corruption. Yet Volodymyr Zelensky declared back in November 2022 that there was no corruption in Ukraine — and never would be. The multitude of cases, however, proves that there was and still is corruption in Ukraine. And judging by how things stand, similar cases may well emerge as long as this leadership remains in power. Many feel that Ukraine is synonymous with corruption.
2. It is unclear when the system will devour itself. A moment may come when someone strong enough is caught — someone capable of turning against the leadership. Then things could get very unpleasant…
