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According to data published on the website of the Presidential Office, the income of Zelensky and his family has been declining since 2020. In 2020, the total income was about 12 million hryvnias (7.2 million crowns) and a year later 11 million hryvnias (6.6 million crowns), of which $142,000 (about 3.25 million crowns) were income from the sale of Ukrainian government bonds .
In 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the income of the president and his family fell to 3.7 million hryvnias (2.2 million crowns). According to the President’s Office, the decline was due to the termination of some rental contracts due to the start of the war, writes Reuters.
Zelensky also called on other Ukrainian officials and politicians to disclose their incomes to curb corruption in the country. Kiev is trying to crack down on corruption to speed up its accession to the European Union and NATO. Representatives of both blocs are demanding comprehensive anti-corruption reforms from Ukraine. The International Monetary Fund and Western allies that provide financial aid to Ukraine have similar requirements.
The Ukrainian president disclosed his earnings at a time when the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on its website that employees of a Ukrainian defense company, together with officials from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, had embezzled almost 1.5 billion hryvnias (around 910 million crowns) intended for the purchase of 100 thousand mortar shells.
“The SBU, with the support of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, uncovered a plan to embezzle state funds in the purchase of ammunition in 2022. “Criminals attempted to steal almost 1.5 billion household hryvnias (approximately €36 million) for the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for AFU”
➡️…#lviv pic.twitter.com/AYEqHALg93— TheLvivJournal (@LvivJournal) January 28, 2024
According to the investigation, the officials concluded the contract for the purchase of artillery shells with the Lviv Arsenal company in August 2022, writes the SBU.
“However, the company did not send a single artillery shell to our country,” the SBU reports, according to which the company transferred part of the money to accounts in the Balkans. “The balance of the Defense Ministry remained in the accounts of the Ukrainian company in one of the banks in the capital,” the SBU added.
“Stolen funds have been confiscated and the issue of their return to the budget of Ukraine is being resolved,” the SBU later announced.
The statement goes on to say that the embezzlement plan was uncovered with the help of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Five people, including former and current officials of the department as well as some members of the company’s management and their accomplices, are suspected of embezzlement.
One person was arrested while trying to cross the Ukrainian border. If the courts find them guilty, they could face up to 12 years in prison, the AP agency said.
The Ukrainian SBU reports the discovery of a corruption network in the purchase of ammunition for 900 million
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