• Zelenskiy vowed significant decisions on weeding it out this week.
• Corruption will not be tolerated.
• Zelenskiy’s commitment came amid suspicions of senior-level corruption.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Sunday that corruption, the country’s chronic problem pushed to the margins by the war against Russia, will not be tolerated and vowed significant decisions on weeding it out this week.

Zelenskiy’s commitment came amid suspicions of senior-level corruption, including a revelation of questionable procedures in military procurement, despite leaders espousing national unity in the face of the invasion.

“I want this to be clear: there will be no return to what used to be in the past, to the way various people close to state institutions or those who spent their entire lives chasing a chair used to live,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Ukraine has had a long history of rampant corruption and shaky governance, with Transparency International ranking the country’s corruption at 122 of 180 countries, not much better than Russia in 2021.

After awarding Kyiv candidate status last year, the EU made anti-corruption reforms one of the primary prerequisites for Ukraine’s membership.

“This week will be for suitable decisions,” Zelenskiy stated. “Decisions have already been made. I don’t want to make them public at the moment, but everything will be fair.”

Zelenskiy, who was elected by a landslide in 2019 on promises to reform the ex-Soviet state’s governance, said his government had accepted the resignation of a deputy minister following an investigation into claims he received a bribe.

Also Read

Elon Musk asks people to vote to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy responds with his own poll

Elon Musk asked Twitter users to vote on whether Crimea should be...