Ukrainian democracy equipped to battle corruption - Poroshenko
Leader of the European Solidarity party, Member of Parliament (MP) Petro Poroshenko has said that corruption weakens Ukraine, but the exposure of corruption by anti-corruption bodies, on the contrary, makes the state stronger.
"As for the tapes and recent corruption revelations, I would say there is both bad news and good news in them. The bad news is obvious: such scandals damage trust and make it harder to build support among allies," Poroshenko said in an interview with Politico.
But the good news, according to him, is that today anti-corruption institutions in Ukraine are functioning effectively. "The main message to the world is that Ukraine is capable of cleaning up the system and stopping corrupt officials regardless of how high their positions may be. This demonstrates not the weakness of the state, but that Ukraine’s democratic system has a healthy immune system capable of identifying and eliminating diseased cells," the politician said.
Responding to a question about whether there is a risk that this scandal will undermine Ukraine's bid for EU membership, Poroshenko said that Ukraine's path to the EU and NATO "is much larger than any individual politician."
In his opinion, corruption investigations and recent exposures should lead to a complete reset of power, which means the immediate formation of a new government of national unity. " In other European countries, the way out of such a crisis would normally be early elections. But during the war, this is impossible in Ukraine. Therefore a coalition government should be formed with the participation of the opposition," Poroshenko said.
As reported, former Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, former Vice Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, businessman Timur Mindich, exposed as part of Operation Midas, as well as 4 persons under the control of the former Vice Prime Minister, are suspected of legalizing UAH 460 million in elite construction near Kyiv.
"As established during the pretrial investigation, in 2020, the Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine (position at the time the crime began) decided to build a private cottage community with its own spa complex in the village of Kozyn, Kyiv region," the anti-corruption prosecutor's office message said.
