Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand then Defence Minister gives a statement on the sidelines of a meeting with members of a Ukraine Security Consultative Group at the US Air Base in Ramstein, western Germany, on April 26, 2022. (Photo by ANDRE PAIN / AFP)
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada remains committed to supporting Ukraine, and that it has offered accountability support in light of an unfolding $100 million corruption scandal involving the Ukraine’s nuclear agency.
Canada is a “long-time supporter of Ukraine’s reform efforts” and continued reform is “essential for transparency, accountability and good governance,” Anand said, according to The Globe and Mail. She noted that Canada has offered to help Ukraine tighten oversight and accountability in government to prevent such corruption.
She noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed his support for Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities’ investigation into the scandal. She also said she told Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha that Canada “continues to offer support to Ukraine in terms of governance reforms,” while the two met at a G7 meeting in Ontario this week.
“I want to assure Canadians that all of our international assistance projects undergo a rigorous assessment before the agreement is signed,” Anand said.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities say they have detained five individuals and notified seven staff members of suspicion in connection to an alleged plot to control procurement at the nuclear agency, Energoatom, and other state enterprises, according to a Nov. 11 news release from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Nov. 13 that the government had submitted motions to dismiss cabinet ministers, who allegedly had ties to the scandal, and imposed sanctions on other individuals allegedly involved in the scandal.
Svyrydenko also said the government is “launching a reset” of Energoatom, including suspending its leadership and beginning a company-wide audit, with Zelenskyy calling corruption in the energy sector “absolutely unacceptable.” She also said Kyiv was launching a sweeping anti-corruption audit of all state-owned companies.
Since the Russia’s invasion in 2022, Canada has provided nearly $22 billion to Ukraine in various forms of aid, including in the areas of military, economy, humanitarian, development, security, stabilization, and immigration.
Scandal
Zelenskyy signed a decree on Nov. 13 to impose sanctions on businessmen Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman, both of whom have been implicated in the alleged corruption scheme. According to NABU, Mindich was allegedly the primary organizer of the scheme, while Tsukerman allegedly ran the “back office” responsible for laundering the illicit funds.
According to a statement from Zelenskyy’s office, both Mindich and Tsukerman—identified as citizens of Israel—fled Ukraine just before the charges were announced.
The scandal has also allegedly involved several prominent figures in the Zelenskyy administration, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, and Rustem Umerov, former defense minister and current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
Both Halushchenko and Hrynchuk submitted their resignations on Nov. 12, a day after Zelenskyy demanded that they step down.
The scheme has sparked public outrage as millions of Ukrainians face rolling blackouts and heating shortages in the winter due to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy sites.
The European Union has renewed its warnings to Kyiv that it must continue to fight corruption in Ukraine if it is to realize its hopes of joining the bloc, while noting that the case proves the country’s anti-corruption bodies are “functioning.”
Energoatom said in a Nov. 11 statement that it takes the corruption allegations “with the utmost seriousness,” adding that it is committed to “ensuring full transparency, accountability, the highest standards of integrity within the organisation and cooperation with authorities.”
Bill Pan, Guy Birchall, and Reuters contributed to this report.
Olivia Gomm is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.