Ukraine detains deputy energy minister in bribery case, prosecutors say
Arrest is latest high-level corruption case
Suspects were caught red-handed, law enforcement says
Ukraine has stepped up wartime anti-graft campaign
Updates with details about the case from prosecutors
By Anastasiia Malenko and Tom Balmforth
KYIV, Aug 12 (Reuters) -Ukraine detained one of its four deputy energy ministers and three other suspects as they were caught "red-handed" receiving a tranche of a $500,000 bribe, state prosecutors and anti-graft police said on Monday.
Ukraine has stepped up a wartime campaign against official corruption to prove the country's credentials for joining the European Union, which has made fighting graft a priority.
Its energy sector is a vital cog in the national war effort against Russia and it has sustained heavy damage from Russian airstrikes this year. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Prosecutor General's Office said the suspects demanded a $500,000 bribe in return for facilitating the removal of a state-owned coal enterprise's mining equipment from the war-torn areas of the embattled Donetsk region.
As part of the arrangement, the Lviv-Volyn basin coal enterprise was to be authorised to move the equipment and operate it freely at state-owned mines in the western region of Ukraine, it said.
The statement did not identify the deputy minister, but the government said it had sacked deputy energy minister Oleksandr Kheilo with immediate effect. The official could not immediately be reached for comment.
The other suspects included an official at a state-owned coal enterprise and two other intermediaries, it said on Telegram.
The suspects were detained as they were about to receive $100,000 of the $500,000 bribe. The investigators previously documented the group's receipt of another $200,000, it said.
The Ukrainian energy ministry said German Galushchenko, the energy minister, had helped expose the ploy and immediately appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers to sack the deputy.
Ukraine has been battling corruption for years.
In April, the agriculture minister was detained and sacked over allegations of his involvement in an illegal acquisition of state-owned land worth $7 million. He denied wrongdoing.
Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Angus MacSwan
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
