Ukrainian lawmaker removed from committee chair amid bribery allegations
Source: Iryna Herashchenko
Ukrainian lawmaker Mykola Zadorozhny, a member of the ruling “Servant of the People” party, has been removed from his position as chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing state funding of fortification construction and drone production.
Zadorozhny’s dismissal follows allegations of bribery – the lawmaker was earlier accused of crimes under Article 27, 368 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code after Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine alleged that the lawmaker demanded kickbacks for not interfering with “infrastructure repair works” commissioned by the goverment in the Sumy region.
The disgraced MP has been replaced by Oleksandr Bakumov, also from the “Servant of the People” party, who was supported by 282 members of parliament. The opposition “European Solidarity” faction abstained from the vote, criticizing the decision as merely “swapping one problem for another.””European Solidarity” had proposed Mykhailo Bondar, a member of the same commission, as an alternative candidate. However, the proposal did not gain sufficient support in parliament.
“We are calling for the establishment of a temporary investigative commission, not a special one, given the magnitude of the abuses in fortification construction. It’s time to recruit investigative bodies. Moreover, this should be an instrument of the opposition, and we demand that Mykhailo Bondar be appointed as chair of this commission,” said lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko.
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