Afrasianet - Mohamed Farag - It is not surprising that a corruption file has flown up in Ukraine, given the political structure with which the country has emerged since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the questions now revolve about why the file was set in motion, and who is responsible for it.?
Ukraine did not succeed in becoming a nation-state after the declaration of independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some attribute the failure to the weakness of the urban middle classes, some to the ethnic division (Russophone-Ukrainophone), and some to the migration of talents, whether east towards Russia or west towards the European Union, but the factor of corruption is almost the unanimous factor in the matrix of causes of Ukrainian failure.
Corruption in Ukraine grew in an upward linear curve, and when Putin was fighting the oligarchy that had exhausted the Russian economy for 10 years, Ukraine was building on the foundations of deals between politicians and oligarchs, and Kyiv was unable to build a central authority, where the "Orange Revolution" took place, and the so-called "European Square Uprising" took place, and instead of Kyiv being the starting point for building central power, it was the starting point for deals between multiple and sometimes competing and conflicting spheres of influence.
Dimitri Bridge, a researcher at the Center for Arab-Eurasian Studies, says that Zelensky campaigned with the slogan "Breaking the oligarchy and zeroing out corruption," but there are serious indications that Zelensky is involved in the same system:
Zelensky made his stardom through a channel owned by an influential oligarch, Ihor Kolomoisky. According to the German Institute for International Relations, $41 million was transferred to accounts related to Zelensky from Kolomoisky's private bank in 2012-2016. After Zelensky came to the presidency, Kolomoisky fought and arrested him, and today after the corruption recording scandal has been raised to Zelensky's inner circle, Kolomoisky threatens that he will put Zelensky in a cage with which to roam Ukraine !
Another indicator that Dmitry Bridge presents is related to the production companies founded by Zelensky and their association with complex networks with other companies abroad.
Profit-rolling mechanisms and Zelenskyy's use of tax havens. These include the publication of the Pandora Papers regarding Zelenskyy's ownership of an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, and his transfer of shares before he assumed the presidency to his close friend Sergei Schaeffer.
There is no such perfect time for corruption as there is in war, so it is not surprising that approaches are woven between Zelensky's history of the deals of Ukraine's oligarchs and politicians, and the potential for the West's money flowing into Ukraine to fight the war against Russia.
The recent case of recordings proves the involvement of Zelensky's inner circle in this context, and it has been announced that large sums of European and American funds sent for the purpose of restoring Ukraine's energy infrastructure have been announced.
Zelenskyy's dilemma is that the names of the accused are from his inner circle, and represent prominent figures in the ruling system: Timur Mendyš (nicknamed Zelensky's portfolio and co-founder of Zelenskyy's production company Kvatal 95), Justice Minister German Galeshenko (formerly energy minister, hailing from Ukraine's far west), and most recently, Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff.
It is not surprising that a corruption file has erupted in Ukraine, in light of the political structure with which the country has been established since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the questions now revolve about why the file was set in motion, and who is responsible for it? How did the Europeans react? How has Washington reacted?
The establishment of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Office is based on the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund, and Americans are therefore considered the most influential player in it, especially with its various projects in consulting, recruitment, and training. The office is an independent body, not under Zelensky's office, and oversees aid spending mechanisms, so Zelensky tried last July to overturn the decision to consider the anti-corruption bureau an independent body, but failed to do so due to protests.
If we look at the course of Trump's handling of the war in Ukraine, he seems more inclined to end it without a high reservation about Russian conditions, and there is no evidence of this from the outcomes of his meeting with Zelensky at the White House, when he told him, "You don't have pressure cards," and if we link this to the size of the American influence on the National Anti-Corruption Office, the narrative of a number of Russian researchers, who believe that Washington moved the file, and it may open up complex opportunities for Trump. From ousting Zelensky to triggering lawsuits against Biden), this narrative may seem pretty plausible.
Russian officials see the low level of European enthusiasm to condemn the scandal or the reticence to ask for further investigation as evidence of the involvement of European officials in the corruption itself.
Europe is no different from Washington in jumping on corruption, if political necessity warrants it, otherwise Trump would not have considered Netanyahu's corruption in cigars and champagne ridiculous, but in Ukraine, the attitude toward corruption may reflect the disagreement between Europeans and Trump on how to get out of this war.
In that case, "Ukraine's corruption" will be a suitable way out for everyone, and the war will stop with a high ceiling of Russian conditions, and the West has not been defeated, because "corruption has risen up and punished it"!