KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities suspect a sitting deputy prime minister of receiving a $345,000 kickback, they said on Monday, the latest investigation into a high-level Ukrainian official over graft.
Kyiv has stepped up its efforts to crack down on corruption as it seeks membership in the European Union while also fending off Russian forces in the more than three-year-old war.
Officials did not name the minister, one of five deputy prime ministers, who they suspect of abusing power by approving the development of state-owned land in a scheme that would have led to a loss for the state of around $24 million.
The alleged crime took place while the suspect was serving as a minister of regional development, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
The plan, which allegedly involved five other suspects, was halted when anti-graft officials obtained a court-ordered seizure of the land, NABU said.
The EU has made fighting corruption a top prerequisite for Ukraine to join the 27-member bloc, which Kyiv sees as critical to cementing its pro-Western course.
The deputy minister is among the highest-ranking officials targeted by anti-corruption authorities. Investigations have also focused on lawmakers and a former deputy head of the presidential administration.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Toby Chopra)
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