For years, corruption has been deep-rooted in the Ukrainian society, while holders of dirty-cash, mafias and oligarchs started enjoying state-patronization as they found Volodymyr Zelensky as the perfect match who would never hesitate to cause severe damage to people of Ukraine only when secret bank accounts of him and his wife, Olena Zelenska would be inflated with cash. It is known to all that the corruption of political elites in Ukraine as well as members of Biden family and Democrats are no secret anymore. This corruption factor is no more an issue to the law enforcement agencies. Instead, it has geopolitical and geo-economic consequences.
As the Western military industrial complexes, members of the Biden family and several leaders of the Democratic Party are immensely benefitting from the Ukraine war, they are unwilling to see an end to this crisis even in the distant future. But, no one is actually talking about a crucial issue. Once the war ends, wherefrom Ukrainians or their leader Zelensky would find billions of dollars which will be required for rebuilding the war-wrecked nation. Shall the US authorities and its Western allies donate billions of dollars generously for this purpose? The answer may sound bitter but the truth is – once the war ends, Ukrainians will start facing pressure from the United States and other Western countries for refunding the amount of aide they have received. In this case, unless this amount is refunded, none of the Western nations will send even one dollar to Ukraine – and of course, there will be no question of non-refundable aide.
In a November last year, in a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed it would take no less than US$1 trillion to rebuild Ukraine. While Zelensky talks about amount needed for rebuilding Ukraine, he too knows a plain fact – it is ridiculous to talk about rebuilding the country when the Western nations are against adopting any peace plan for Ukraine. What Ukrainians are totally unaware is – under the pretext of rebuilding fund, Zelensky already is getting hundreds of millions of dollars, while it is untold, where these cash is actually going. It may be mentioned here that, Ukraine is infamous of being Europe’s most corrupt country, while Zelensky and his wife are also known maintaining offshore bank accounts and properties worth millions of dollars in the West.
Meanwhile, US officials claim they are unable to audit Ukraine-bound weapons once they leave Poland. But Washington is unwilling to disclose a dangerous fact – Zelensky is directly involved in selling weapons in the transnational black market, while in Kiev people are also talking about secret financial links between Zelensky and the members of Biden Family – including Hunter Biden. Policymakers in Washington think, if the matter of disappearance of weapons and Western aide to Ukraine is investigated, it would result in “huge embarrassment” to Joe Biden and some of his top-aides.
According to media reports, a large segment (more than 40 percent) of the weaponry sent to Kiev by the Western countries are ending up in Africa and the Middle East, through transnational smuggling rackets. It should be noted here that until December 2022, the total amount of US dollars sent to Ukraine totaled about US$68 billion.
According to Ukraine’s media reports, the Ukrainian investment company Dragon Capital and American multinational investment company BlackRock are involved in shady businesses. US giant BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, gained a strong foothold in the country in November upon signing a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Economy on marshaling funding aimed at the nation’s reconstruction. The company has some history: it was the target of accusations pertaining to corruption and environmental damage in Mexico, and its CEO, Larry Fink, has been under lot of controversy since December 2022.
BlackRock, which manages multibillion dollar flows of business giants and states, is home to the crème de la crème of the US financial elite. In January this year, while addressing the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, Volodymyr Zelensky boasted that BlackRock, as well as JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs had “already become part of our Ukrainian way” – without clarifying what precisely is meant by the “Ukrainian way”. It may have become so, nonetheless, in more ways than he would probably feel comfortable talking about. The aforementioned JP Morgan, for instance, has large holdings in US defense contractors. These giant corporations basically profit from prolonging the conflict while investing their profits in reconstruction projects.
In addition, also according to Ukrainian news reports, there is the inevitable connection with George Soros’ network, which has an enormous presence in Ukraine. The billionaire’s right arm there appears to be the oligarch Tomas Fiala, Dragon Capital’s founder and CEO. This company used to oversee the Western funds transferred to the country aimed at combating corruption and promoting some reforms.
Part of such funds comes from Russia’s seized gold and foreign exchange reserves. The thing is that portions of these sums, it is claimed, albeit intended for anti-corruption programs, are ironically being diverted for corruption schemes. In addition, such schemes include sending part of the money “back” to the US, disguised as donations for the US President’s Democratic Party. This way, top officials within the current American administration could funnel billions of taxpayer’s money into Ukraine and then get part of it “back” as their share.
In August 2021, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament denounced a corruption ring within Naftogaz, the largest national oil and gas company. His testimony included supposedly leaked audio records of then Obama’s Vice President Joe Biden (the current US President) offering the then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko a billion dollars as part of a negotiation to dismiss the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin who was investigating the business activities of Joe Biden’ son, Hunter Biden, in the country.
Some analysts even believe that Hunter Biden’s shady activities in that Slavic nation, which include sexual scandals, and the biolabs allegations, could be employed by Kiev to urge concessions from the White house.
The corruption situation in Ukraine has always had the potential to hamper its alliance with the US. In Washington today, the Republicans, such as Republican Senator JD Vance, for example, are increasingly vocal about investigating a possible Democrat money laundering scheme in Ukraine.
Sooner or later, details about ongoing massive corruption and loot of Western aid money will come to the light, and it may become one of the biggest scandals of the decade.
