MP: Scandals with officials hurt Ukraine's image and outrage the military

Scandals involving public officials negatively affect Ukraine's image in the international arena. In addition, the military, who are defending our country from the Russian invasion, react to them painfully. This opinion was expressed by MP Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk in an exclusive commentary to UNN. 

In general, these scandals affect both the external image and, of course, the internal image. That is why it is very important to respond to all this immediately, as the Prosecutor General did. And it would be even better to do everything to prevent such things from happening

According to him, every scandalous case involving violations by officials needs to be analyzed. “And all officials and people representing the state body need to understand that we are working under martial law, and the military is reacting very painfully to all these things that are happening. Therefore, there should be an immediate reaction, and officials should understand the risks and act like in Europe - regardless of whether you could influence or not, this is the fate of leaders - they should resign, and all those who come in afterwards should think about the consequences,” summarized Tsymbalyuk.

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Ukraine has been rocked by a series of scandals involving public officials. In particular, it turned out that more than 60 prosecutors in the Khmelnytsky region had disabilities. Later, it turned out that prosecutors in other regions of Ukraine also received disabilities. The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine launched an internal investigation into this fact, and Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin resigned.

Another scandal involves officials of the National Bank of Ukraine. Oleksandr Zyma, director of the NBU's legal department, became a defendant in a criminal proceeding on suspicion of abuse of office.

The case was initiated by Zyma's letter to the Deposit Guarantee Fund. In the document, Zyma, who is also the chief lawyer of the National Bank and the chairman of the Administrative Council of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, recommended on behalf of the National Bank that the Fund withdraw the lawsuits filed by Concord Bank against the National Bank of Ukraine.

It was about four lawsuits in which Concorde demanded to cancel fines totaling almost UAH 63.5 million. They were filed even before the National Bank decided to liquidate Concorde and put it into temporary administration.  

The Foundation followed the recommendation it received on behalf of the regulator. The letter contained a digital signature of Oleksandr Zyma.

According to Concorde co-owner Olena Sosiedka, Zima deprived the bank's shareholders of their constitutional right to a fair trial by his instructions. 

Currently, the criminal proceedings against Zyma have been transferred from the SBI to the Pechersk Police Department of Kyiv for investigation. Law enforcement officials told UNN that they plan to identify the victims and interrogate the chief lawyer of the National Bank. Also, after Zyma is served with a notice of suspicion, investigators will petition the court to remove him from his duties as director of the NBU's legal department. This gives us hope that Zyma's case will be investigated and brought to court.

The case of Zyma, who is also the chairman of the Administrative Board of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, has attracted the attention of the IMF, which is actively demanding an open competition for the position of the DGF director. The unresolved situation and the accusations against Zyma call into question the transparency of appointments and the independence of key bodies, which may negatively affect Ukraine's interaction with international financial institutions.

In addition to the legal aspects, the case against Zyma also calls into question the transparency of the regulator's actions, which negatively affects confidence in the banking system and may harm relations with international partners.

Unlike the situation with the prosecutors, the National Bank did not react to the case against Zyma; there was not even an internal investigation and no communication from the regulator on this issue.