Ukrainian minister detained over suspected corruption: prosecutors

KYIV: According to authorities, Mykola Solsky, the minister of agriculture for Ukraine, was placed under arrest after his designation as an official suspect in a multimillion-dollar corruption investigation.

As part of its application to join the European Union, Kyiv, which has been plagued by serious corruption scandals since the collapse of the Soviet Union, has promised to strengthen its anti-graft initiatives.
When Solsky was the leader of a significant agricultural enterprise and a member of parliament, he was charged with unlawfully taking land valued at over $7 million.

His detention was mandated by an anti-corruption court until June 24, according to the prosecution. 75.7 million hryvnias ($1.9 million) was imposed as the bail amount.

Solsky resigned earlier this week and said he would assist with the investigation.
On Friday, prosecutors said that they had also filed charges against twelve other suspects in the investigation, including public employees.
Owning many agricultural companies, Solsky was elected to the Ukrainian parliament in 2019 and became minister of agriculture in March 2022.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a number of corruption cases have surfaced, although they have mostly implicated lower-level officials and been connected to army procurement.
The country’s defense minister was fired by President Volodymyr Zelensky last year due to many irregularities involving army procurement.