Ukraine Pasta Purchases Draw Scrutiny in Anti-Corruption Probe
- Inflated food purchases triggered $1.7 million in state losses
- Agriculture Ministry denies wrongdoing, cited errors in probe
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Ukraine’s anti-graft bodies are investigating senior government officials they suspect of purchasing food for war-hit regions at inflated prices as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration intensifies a crackdown on corruption.
The procurement contracts under scrutiny led to 62.5 million hryvnia ($1.7 million) in losses to the state, Ukraine’s Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said in a statement. The purchases involved humanitarian aid for regions most affected by the war including Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in the east and south as well as the capital Kyiv.