A senior Ukrainian government official has been sacked following his arrest on allegations of corruption and after the Defense Ministry launched an internal audit to look into contracts that allegedly charge inflated prices.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the dismissal of Vasyl Lozynskiy on January 22 in a statement on Telegram. Lozynskiy had held the post of deputy minister for the development of communities, territories, and infrastructure since May 2020.
The Cabinet of Ministers said in a statement that the decision to dismiss the official was adopted at Shmyhal’s initiative during an extraordinary meeting on January 22.
“The Government of Ukraine is guided by the principle of zero tolerance for corruption and continues to build anti-corruption infrastructure,” the statement said.
Lozynskiy was arrested on January 21 by the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) on suspicion of embezzlement.
The NABU said that Lozynskiy had received $400,000 “to facilitate the conclusion of contracts for the purchase of equipment and generators at inflated prices."
Generators are in high demand in Ukraine amid electricity shortages following Russian strikes on energy infrastructure.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry denied reports that it had grossly inflated food prices in a recent contract, but announced it would launch an internal audit and hold an emergency meeting with Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on January 23.
Local media reports accused the ministry of having signed a deal at prices "two to three times higher" than current rates for basic foodstuffs.
The Defense Ministry called the reports "false" and said it purchases products "in accordance with the procedure established by the law."
If violations in the activities of Defense Ministry officials are detected during the audit, "they will be held accountable in accordance with current law," the ministry added.
The minister of Infrastructure and regional development, Oleksandr Kubrakov, commented on the dismissal of Lozynskiy on Facebook, noting that a reorganization involving the Ministry of Community, Territorial, and Infrastructure Development began at the end of December and is still ongoing.
"When making personnel decisions in the new ministry, we were guided by the need to preserve institutional memory, but, obviously, not like this,” he said on January 22.
Kubrakov said he has instructed the ministry's team to launch an audit of all active ministry projects, including budget funds, funds from international financial institutions, and technical assistance projects.