Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 16, 2024.
Adam Galici | CNBC
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed his income for the first time on Sunday as he pushes for greater transparency and the fight against corruption as part of the country’s push for EU membership.
Ukraine officially began the review process to join the EU last week and faces tough conditions in resolving its historic corruption problem.
According to the statement on the presidential website, the Zelensky family’s income almost tripled between 2021 and 2022.
Zelensky and his family members received 10.8 million Ukrainian hryvnias ($286,168) in 2021, the year before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a decrease of nearly 12 million hryvnias from the previous year. The 2021 figure included approximately $142,000 in proceeds from the sale of government bonds.
“Volodymyr Zelensky continues to own a number of brands. In particular, in 2021, the process of registration of 22 trademarks, which began long before his election as President of Ukraine, was completed,” the President’s first public income statement said.
In 2022, the Zelensky family’s income fell to 3.7 million hryvnias due to the “temporary termination of leases on the territory of Ukraine as a result of the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression.”
The family’s cash balance fell by almost 1.8 million hryvnia at the end of 2022, the statement said, while its assets, real estate and vehicle ownership remained unchanged in the two years.
Zelensky called on all civil servants to declare their income as part of a broader effort to promote transparency, and Ukraine’s National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption last month reopened a register of declared income for public scrutiny.
The United States and other allies that provide financial aid and weapons, as well as institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, have also sought assurances about Kyiv’s efforts to root out corruption in public offices.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Saturday that after a two-year investigation it had uncovered a $40 million corruption scheme in the procurement of weapons.
Five employees of the Ukrainian defense company Lviv Arsenal are said to have conspired with Defense Ministry officials to embezzle funds earmarked for the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells.
The SBU said five people have been charged and could face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.
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2024-01-29 15:39:33
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