KYIV-(MaraviPost)-Ukrainian deputy defense minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov has resigned amid allegations of his link to the latest corruption scandal in the country.
The defense ministry disclosed the news on its website adding that Vyacheslav Shapovalov’s resignation was “a worthy deed” that would help retain trust in the ministry.
Prior to his resignation, local newspapers claimed that the Defense Ministry purchased foods for the military at prices two to three times higher than those at Kyiv grocery stores.
However, the ministry denied the allegations calling the claims allegations “unsubstantiated” despite the alleged leaked contract for food procurement that indicated that the ministry purchased food for soldiers in 2023 for the total amount of Hr 13.16 billion (U$360 million).
According to Kyiv Independent, a report surfaced that indicated that the Defense Ministry agreed to buy eggs at Hr 17 each, while in Kyiv’s grocery stores, the price per egg was closer to Hr 7 and a kilogram of potatoes to be ordered at Hr 22, while the price in grocery stores is about Hr 9.
In response to the price changes, the Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov On Jan. 23, issued a statement that indicated that the inflated prices were merely “technical error” of the contractor.
In recent weeks, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had started a series of personnel changes in government, regional authorities and the security services in an attempt to clear corruption in the country.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Simonenko and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko who joined the presidential office in 2019, after working on Zelenskyy’s media has also resigned.
Tymoshenko last year was under investigation relating to his personal use of luxury cars. He was also among officials linked last September to the embezzlement of humanitarian aid worth more than $7 million earmarked for the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Last September, the anti-corruption police also arrested the deputy infrastructure minister in the country on suspicion of receiving a 367,000 euro bribe to buy overpriced generators, an allegation the minister denies.
