Politics Ukraine: Court forces corruption authority to investigate

In Ukraine, the Anti-Corruption Court is forcing specialized corruption investigators to investigate the head of the state electricity grid operator Ukrenerho. A lawyer has filed a complaint against the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) for its failure to act, reported the news portal Ukrajinska Pravda. The subject of the investigation is said to be the possible receipt of unlawful benefits by Ukrenerho boss Volodymyr Kudrytsky. No further details were given. The court ordered the initiation of investigations.

Since massive Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants in March, hour-long power cuts have been ordered in most of the country. Ukrenerho is responsible for the allocation of electricity. Ukrenerho's management has also recently been criticized for its extraordinarily high salaries. Five board members, including Kudryzkyj, earned the equivalent of almost 445,000 euros in the first half of the year.

In the first quarter, the average salary in Ukraine was the equivalent of around 420 euros per month. According to International Monetary Fund statistics, the Eastern European country was already the poorest country in Europe in terms of per capita income before the Russian invasion in 2022.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau was founded in 2015 with great expectations and strong Western support to investigate corruption against high-ranking officials. Other additional authorities followed. However, the country is still considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe according to the Corruption Perceptions Index of the non-governmental organization Transparency International.

SDA