The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Monday (12/8) that it had arrested a Ukrainian deputy energy minister accused of accepting a half-million-dollar bribe. In addition to the minister, the SBU also arrested three other people suspected of being his accomplices.
The minister, whose name was not released by the SBU, allegedly asked mining industry officials to pay 'tribute' so that equipment could be moved from mines in the frontline Donetsk region to coal basins in western Ukraine.
“The equipment in question is unique and rare, belonging to one of the state-owned coal companies located in the most active region of the eastern front, Pokrovsk,” the SBU said in a statement.
“In the spring of 2024, industry representatives contacted the deputy energy minister to obtain permission to evacuate equipment from the war zone and use it in mines in the western region,” he added.
“However, the official, who was in charge of the mining equipment, allegedly asked for money to move it,” he said.
According to the statement, the minister received the payment with the help of three alleged accomplices. The three were caught red-handed after the minister received part of the bribe money.
The SBU did not reveal the identities of the four defendants and only posted a photo of officers arresting the suspects with their faces blurred.
However, Ukrainian opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak named the minister as Oleksandr Kheilo, a deputy energy minister.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers later issued an order to dismiss Kheilo from his post, according to the government's Telegram channel.
Ukraine, which already had a serious corruption problem even before Russia invaded in 2022, has vowed to continue fighting graft as part of its bid to gain European Union membership and reassure its Western military backers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rose to power on a platform of ending corruption. He fired several officials, including his defense minister last year, in response to a corruption scandal in the military. (ah/rs)
