Ukrainian minister of agriculture suspected of appropriating public land
Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky is accused of appropriating state lands worth almost 6.9 million euros. Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Agency announced in a press release on Tuesday that
“The current Minister of Agriculture is suspected of having appropriated public lands worth almost 6.9 million euros and of attempting to seize other lands worth 4.5 million euros,” it said. national anti-corruption agency.
According to the authorities, he collaborated with officials from the state land registry and cartography services. They are accused of appropriating approximately 2,500 hectares in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine between 2017 and 2021. They allegedly succeeded in this through a system in which official documents were misappropriated.
The accused wanted to appropriate another 3,282 hectares, but anti-corruption agents and prosecutors were able to prevent them from doing so, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency says.
Several people involved in this accusation, including the minister, have been officially notified of their charges, according to the agency.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several cases of corruption came to light, mainly in the army core, but mostly involving officials in lower positions.
According to his official biography, Minister Solsky, who is not explicitly mentioned in the press release, worked for a law firm until 2019. He was elected to parliament that year and was appointed minister in March 2022.
The fight against corruption, a common evil in Ukraine, is one of the most important conditions set by European Member States in connection with Ukraine’s request to join the European Union.
