Ukraine MP detained for offering bribe

Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday detained a deputy suspected of offering a bribe to get funding for a university, prosecutors said.

The case has again highlighted a major corruption problem in the country as it fights off a Russian invasion.

Prosecutors said the deputy offered $10,000 in bitcoin to the head of the state reconstruction agency to get funding to repair buildings at the university where he is in charge.

The prosecution department said in a social media post that a court had agreed to its request to place the suspect in detention.

The accused was not identified, but media reports named the deputy as Andrii Odarchenko, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ruling party.

Media reports said Odarchenko had denied the charges and said he was the victim of political persecution.

Corruption is a major problem in Ukraine, which it has been told to fix if it wants to join the European Union, which has given billions of euros in aid since the start of the Russia’s invasion.

Several high profile cases have been exposed in recent months, including within the military.

On Monday, authorities sacked the head of the state cybersecurity department and his deputy over suspicions that more than 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) had been diverted from software purchases.

AFP

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