Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau makes progress yet doesn't take on top presidential allies yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The timing of the “Made in Ukraine” event that gathered over 400 entrepreneurs, government officials, foreign guests, and journalists in central Kyiv on Feb. 26 was no coincidence. In the absence of further U.S. funding, Ukraine is turning to its business in the hopes of being less dependent on what Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko called a “sometimes volatile external environment." President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise appearance at the event to formally announce the new “Made in Ukraine” economic platform whose aim is to “facilitate dialogue between the state and businesses."
The government formally appointed Viktor Pavlushchyk as the new head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), said Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in the parliament, on Feb. 27.
Vsevolod Kniaziev, former chairman of the Supreme Court and a suspect in a bribery case, was released from detention after paying Hr 18 million bail ($450,000) on Jan. 31. Kniaziev has been dismissed from his position as the court's chairman but can return to work as an ordinary judge at the Supreme Court because as he has not been formally suspended. The High Council of Justice said that it cannot suspend Kniaziev until prosecutors file a motion to suspend him.
One of Ukraine’s biggest embezzlement cases – that against oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky – is likely to be closed due to a recent court ruling, according to the Anti-Corruption Action Center. Kolomoisky, who is currently under arrest, is also being investigated by the U.S. and Israel. The High Anti-Corruption Court’s appeal chamber on Nov. 28 ruled that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) had missed the May deadline for completing the investigation.