Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a media question about foreign aid to Ukraine
3 August 2023 20:43
1550-03-08-2023
Question: In July, the Review of Ukraine Foreign Assistance Coordination and Oversight by the Inspector General of the US Department of State was published online. It reads that over the longer run "corruption in the Ukrainian government and private sector poses risks to the effectiveness of US foreign assistance that requires robust oversight."
Experts express similar apprehensions, saying that Ukraine may still turn out to be a black hole for Western investment. According to The Washington Post correspondent David Stern, "Ukraine's dream of joining the European Union will hinge in part on the anti-corruption fight."
In the meantime, the EU prefers to avoid this issue. Why is Brussels so shortsighted?
Maria Zakharova: Ukraine is notorious for its exorbitant corruption. The more money is pumped into Ukraine, the more displeased its Western sponsors will be at Kiev's inability to at least limit the stealing of funds.
True, the situation is developing according to a well-known principle of US-EU relations - "Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi," or "Gods may do what cattle may not." If the US begins to talk about the seriousness of the issue, the EU has been apparently been told to remain silent for the time being. That said, European taxpayers have the same right to know as the Americans how their money is spent. After all, according to the European Commission, as of July, the amount of funds promised to Ukraine by the EU, its member countries, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has already reached about 76 billion euros.
Its preliminary report on the implementation by Ukraine of the terms required for the start of talks on joining the EU, which includes undertaking effective anti-corruption efforts, stated that Kiev had achieved "certain progress" on this track. It again merely mentioned the need to take real measures on countering corruption. Brussels refrained from its traditional threats to cut off funding if nothing is done to eradicate corruption although corruption in Ukraine is already astronomical.
The EU and Ukraine are staging another bad comedy for the European taxpayers. Ukraine pretends to fight corruption and Brussels pretends to believe in the Kiev regime's ability to end it eventually. Brussels is carefully ignoring the fact that Zelensky is using his anti-corruption struggle only to neutralise his political opponents rather than eradicate this scourge of Ukrainian statehood as a matter of principle.
Do the current EU leaders have another choice? This is a rhetorical question. Acknowledging the objective fact that billions in assistance to Ukraine is being shamelessly stolen would mean opening Pandora's box. In this case, the EU leaders will have to answer other uncomfortable questions - about illegal trade and smuggling of arms sent to Ukraine into Europe, massive human rights violations by the Kiev regime and the real beneficiaries of Ukraine's de-sovereignisation.
Incidentally, Brussels officials realise that something will have to be done - though quietly, to be sure - with its Kiev clients that are used to living at the expense of others and hope to continue.
The European Commission has recently proposed a special 50 billion euro fund for Ukraine for 2024-2027. To control its spending, it suggested establishing a multi-level auditing system that will include the creation of dedicated oversight bodies and regular planned and unplanned EU inspections. It would be interesting to see how successful Brussels will be in this venture.
It seems that corruption in Ukraine has long deserved to be a major focus of EU journalists that are usually so eager to conduct high profile investigations. Or do Western scribes now work only on command from above? We will have to wait and see.
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