Ukraine will lose the war against Russia, which invaded it, if it fails to stamp out corruption, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Speaking about a corruption scandal in Ukraine on Friday, November 14, he warned Kyiv risks losing support from foreign partners.
If corruption scandals keep emerging in Ukraine, “it will be increasingly difficult to persuade partners to cooperate” in supporting the country, Tusk stressed.
He said he had earlier warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the “catastrophic consequences” of abolishing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and welcomed the decision not to shut the agency.
“But the truth has already come out. So, I warn everyone who has a say in this matter: beware of corruption, beware of this Russian model, because you will lose the war if you tolerate it,” Tusk cautioned.
He said he warned Zelensky that corruption in Ukraine is “one of the key narratives of Russia and pro-Russian parties in Europe.” Some even believed Ukraine was more corrupt than Russia. “I told him to be careful even with the smallest manifestations of corruption,” the Polish prime minister said.
NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said on November 10 they had uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme around state energy company Energoatom.
At the center of the scandal are ministers in Ukraine’s current government, longtime presidential ally Timur Mindich and financier Alexander Tsukerman.
That same day, law enforcement searched Mindich’s premises, Energoatom, and the home of Ukraine’s justice minister Herman Halushchenko.
On November 12, Zelensky demanded the dismissal of Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who had been suspended two days earlier, and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk.
Both ministers submitted their resignations almost immediately after Zelensky’s statement. On November 13, Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on Mindich and Tsukerman.
