Ukrainian agriculture minister arrested for tampering with ownership rights of state land

Latest update:

11:12

Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky was arrested on Friday after anti-corruption watchdog Nabu accused him of corruption. According to Nabu, Solsky illegally appropriated 2,500 hectares of land before his time as a minister in Zelensky’s government. The land was worth almost 7 million euros. Solsky denies guilt, but submitted his letter of resignation to parliament on Thursday. He could get up to twelve years in prison. The Ukrainian court has announced that the bail amount is 1.7 million euros.

Solsky is the first sitting minister in Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to be suspected of corruption. Early last year, other corruption scandals within the Ukrainian government also came to light.

The land that Solsky managed to acquire in his name between 2017 and 2021 actually belonged to the state. The agriculture minister, who acquired wealth through several large agricultural companies, is said to have destroyed the property papers and paid hush money to the regulators together with other suspects. In March 2022, Solsky, now 44, joined Zelensky’s government. He was then given the tough task of keeping the Ukrainian agricultural sector, which plays a crucial role in the global food supply, afloat.

Strict action against corruption

Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia for more than two years now, must take strict action against corruption within the government if it wants to maintain its prospects of joining the European Union and continue to claim Western support. Although Solsky’s fraud is said to have taken place before he joined the government, Zelensky cannot afford a minister suspected of corruption.

Corruption has been a sensitive issue for Ukraine since independence in 1991. Fraud with government money is particularly common. Last year there was a wave of resignations at the top of the Ukrainian government after the Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Communities was caught accepting a large sum of bribes. The Ukrainian army had also paid two to three times the market value for food rations, after which the deputy defense minister was dismissed.

To share

Email the editor