On the campaign trail, President Volodymyr Zelensky had a flashy promise: to imprison all corrupt officials in spring, as soon as he’s elected. That promise served its purpose: It helped him secure a landslide victory over incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who had failed to prosecute corruption and who obstructed the rule of law during his tenure.
Nine months into Zelensky’s presidency, there are few indications that Ukraine will soon see effective and transparent law enforcement agencies, just courts and law-breaking officials on trial and — even better — in jail. Those who steal can keep on stealing if they’re rich and powerful enough.
We explore the issue in part 2 of our series “Unkept Promises” in today’s print edition. Last week’s opener examined unpunished bank fraud. Part 3 will look at poor municipal governance by big-city mayors while the final installment will look at the excessive influence of Ukraine’s oligarchs.
After taking office and winning a landslide in the July 2019 parliamentary elections, Zelensky kept Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, one of the most odious officials, on the job. Avakov’s main achievement as a minister has been corruption allegations against his son and his deputy and a failure to properly investigate attacks on activists and journalists. Despite having a vast ministry of more than 200,000 officials, they have been no-shows on the greatest crimes, including financial ones, that Ukraine has suffered.
But Avakov was still reappointed by Zelensky’s pocket parliament. Zelensky presented this a temporary appointment and demanded actual results from the interior minister. Today, there are no results, but Avakov remains.
Zelensky also appointed Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend with no experience in intelligence, to head the Security Service of Ukraine, an archaic holdover of the Soviet Union. The agency’s 40,000 agents need their excessive powers curbed. Bakanov’s draft law on reforming Ukraine’s intelligence agency was scrapped after heavy criticism from the country’s European partners.
Zelensky named Iryna Venedyktova, a lawyer and member of his party, as acting head of the State Investigation Bureau tasked with investigating crimes by top officials. She succeeded Roman Truba, who was caught on tape working to derail investigations. Venedyktova was fast in appointing a former lawyer for ousted and corrupt President Viktor Yanukovych as her deputy, while Truba’s former deputy was placed in charge of investigating murders committed during the Euromaidan Revolution that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych. These are cases which Zelensky called the most important and complicated of his presidency.
The list goes on. Ukraine’s special anti-corruption prosecutor was taped warning powerful politicians and businesspeople under investigation about potential searches. He remains in office.
The head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, who publicly said that the tainted prosecutor was the sole reason why his agency couldn’t indict a single corrupt official, is now backtracking on his words and saying that they have a working relationship.
Who will deliver the long-promised rule of law, implement reforms and, most importantly, hold corrupt officials accountable?
Zelensky’s transition period is over. He’s no longer the new guy in office. It’s time to judge him based upon his actions, not his promises.
