NEW YORK, July 22. /TASS/. Corruption remains Ukraine’s Achilles heel and may lead to the halt of European military aid to the country, Bloomberg columnist Marc Champion writes, commenting on yesterday’s security raid of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
According to him, "it is never a good sign when governments accused of corruption raid the agencies and activists trying to hold them to account." "It’s something the country cannot afford, just as it asks taxpayers across Europe to pump tens of billions of additional euros into its defense," the columnist noted.
The journalist described the raid of NABU, as well as the detention of Vitaly Shabunin, chairman of the board of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, as politically motivated. In his view, "they’re symbolic of a wider problem that could soon have direct, corrosive effects on the nation’s war effort."
Speaking of other alarming trends, Champion mentioned a bill by the Servant of the People party, which could grant immunity from prosecution to those involved in the production or procurement of weapons. According to the columnist, "adopted in its current form, the bill would amount to a charter for defense industry corruption."
He observed that even though Ukraine had anti-corruption institutions, it did not mean they were protected from political interference, especially in wartime.
Kiev’s international partners used to play a key role in Ukraine’s anti-corruption but now, the United States "suddenly appears disinterested."