KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made public his income over a two-year period on Jan 28 as part of a drive to promote transparency and root out endemic corruption.
In a post on the presidential website, he noted that his income had declined in 2021 and further in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. It was the first time he had declared his income publicly.
In 2021, the year before the invasion, he and his family reported income of 10.8 million hryvnias (S$382,000), down 12 million hryvnias from the previous year. The 2021 figure included income from the sale of US$142,000 (S$190,000) of government bonds.
In 2022, the Zelensky family’s income fell further to 3.7 million hryvnias as Mr Zelensky earned less rental income from real estate he owned because of the outbreak of the war.
Mr Zelensky has called for public officials to disclose their incomes as part of efforts to increase transparency and eliminate corruption, as Ukraine tries to meet the stringent requirements for its bid to join the European Union.
Western allies providing weaponry and financial assistance as well as international bodies like the International Monetary Fund have also sought assurances on efforts to eliminate corruption.
On Jan 27, Ukraine’s SBU security service said it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country’s military totalling the equivalent of about US$40 million.
It said an investigation had “exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells”.
Former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are reportedly involved in the embezzlement.
The embezzlement, the SBU said, involved the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for the military. Payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad. But no arms were ever provided.
Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention, one of several bodies devoted to exposing and eliminating graft, reopened a register on declared income to public scrutiny in December. REUTERS
