A dozen officials in Ukraine have resigned in a large-scale corruption scandal that involved politicians accused of all number of unsavory things, worse during wartime.
Officials were accused of bribery, mismanagement of aid, embezzlement, and driving expensive cars that a government salary should not afford, all during a war that has devastated the economy. This is not new. The government of Ukraine has been this way for decades. Former President Kravchuk was known to drive a Mercedes that would take 136 years to pay for on the Presidential salary.
What is new is the West pretended that they did not know this about Ukraine. They’ve known. And they still open their wallets to support a war that is killing Ukrainian people and enriching Ukrainian politicians. President Zelensky said this week that supporting Ukraine is a “big business” opportunity. Is that why they do it?
It doesn’t seem to be a great opportunity for Germany. The Institute of German Economics calculated that the conflict in Ukraine will cost €175 billion, which equates to €2,000 per person and 4.5% of the country’s GDP. No wonder German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was dragging his feet about committing to more aid. But alas, he seems to have been convinced and will announce a plan to send more battle tanks along shortly.
