In Ukraine, searches were carried out in the tax, customs and former officials

On the morning of February 1, employees of the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI) and operational services came with a search to the offices of the tax service and the place of residence of the former Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov and businessman Igor Kolomoisky.

Avakov, as he himself wrote on social networks, was interrogated in the case of the purchase of French helicopters 6 years ago, one of which – type H225 – crashed on January 18 in Brovary near Kyiv, together with the Minister of Internal Affairs Denis Monastyrsky (a total of 14 people died). Those contracts were approved by the government and parliament, Avakov said in his Telegram account.

Kolomoisky’s house was searched in connection with the case of fraud with the property of the Ukrnafta and Ukrtransnafta companies. These cases were started during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko. According to the sources of the Strana newspaper, searches at Kolomoisky’s are being carried out in connection with the case of embezzlement of oil products worth 40 billion hryvnias and evasion of customs payments for large sums. In 2022, in the Ukrnafta case, Kolomoisky’s house was searched by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

In addition, on February 1, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office officially announced suspicions of corruption to ex-deputy minister of defense of Ukraine Shapovalov, ex-deputy head of the procurement department of the department Bogdan Khmelnitsky and ex-deputy head of the state enterprise Promoboronexport Vladimir Tereshchenko. Shapovalov, according to Ukrayinska Pravda, is suspected of illegal actions, due to which protective equipment worth $27.2 million did not reach the troops. Khmelnytsky is accused of embezzling state funds in the amount of $2.9 million, which led to the supply of 5 700 low-quality body armor. Tereshchenko was charged with abuse and forgery in order to seize state funds in the amount of $1.34 million.

Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksiy Goncharenko announced in his Telegram channel the resignation on February 1 of the leadership of the country’s customs service. According to him, the acting head of the department will be the current deputy, Sergei Zvyagintsev. The head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, also confirmed the upcoming mass layoffs of the customs leadership.

A series of searches in Ukraine is intended to demonstrate the activity of President Volodymyr Zelensky, political analyst Andrei Suzdaltsev believes. It is important for him to show the Western countries that he is a tough leader of a state that is in a state of conflict, the expert believes. Separate attention from the leadership of Ukraine is still riveted to the people who were in the first roles after the Maidan of 2014, who still have great political weight, Suzdaltsev adds.

Zelensky is trying to protect himself from future criticism and scandals with the help of anti-corruption investigations, Suzdaltsev believes. Claims against officials can be found without problems, since the money and weapons that are brought into the country from the West are actually taken away with the help of organized networks, Suzdaltsev says. This leads to an increase in the number of dissatisfied elites who are interested in the redistribution of financial flows. The expert admits that the current Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov may also be under threat.