Friday, February 5, 2016

CRISIS HOT Ukraine’s Economic Minister Resigns, Citing High-Level Corruption


This is what happens when an honest man, with high ideals, gets caught up in a US-controlled crony operation.
Ukraine’s minister for economic development and trade, Aivaras Abromavičius , a financial expert  who was brought in to help Kiev with reforms, has announced his resignation, citing financial corruption at top levels of the state.
Neither me, nor my team have any desire to serve as a cover-up for the covert corruption, or become puppets for those who, very much like the ‘old’ government, are trying to exercise control over the flow of public funds,” Abromavičius said in his official statement on Wednesday.
His ministry’s reform efforts have been “paralyzed” by the “concrete actions” of certain officials and groups, Abromavičius  said, adding that he has been pressured by the president’s administration to appoint “questionable individuals” to his team or to key positions in state-owned enterprises. 
I can only interpret these actions as a persistent attempt to exert control over the flow of money generated by the state-owned enterprises,” the minister said, mentioning the defense industry and Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz in particular. “I refuse to be part of this system,” he added.
While the US and EU, which have provided billions of dollars to Kiev in aid, are expecting to see changes, to the country’s economy minister it “has become clear that any kind of systemic reform is decisively blocked.” 
I am not willing to travel to Davos and talk about our successes to international investors and partners, all the while knowing that certain individuals are scheming to pursue their own interests behind my back,” Abromavičius  said. 
In 2004 Lithuanian-born Abromavičius married a Ukrainian woman from Donetsk and in 2008 they settled in Kyiv where their three children were born.
Abromavičius remained a Lithuanian citizen until being appointed to the Poroshenko government. 
Nine Western ambassadors have signed a statement (published on the official website of the Embassy of Sweden) that states they are "deeply disappointed by the resignation" because Abromavičius delivered real reform results for Ukraine.
 -RW




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