A Ukrainian customs chief responsible for overseeing gas and oil imports has been suspended following questions from an investigative media outlet about his lavish lifestyle.
The situation unfolded after the Ukrainian edition of Radio Free Europe, originally established with US funding to inform Soviet citizens about life beyond the Iron Curtain, conducted a probe into the matter.
Radio Free Europe reported this week that Ukrainian customs head Anatoliy Komar, in charge of energy import regulation, appears to live luxuriously on an official salary of merely €1,860.
His daughter reportedly attends expensive private universities in Cyprus and London, and enjoys luxury trips to places such as Venice and jet skiing in Albania. Komar himself is alleged to own a luxurious house near Kyiv, several apartments in the city, and a number of expensive cars.
This development comes just two weeks after Ukraine witnessed its largest protests against President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the Russian invasion. Thousands took to the streets in opposition to Zelensky’s attempts to muzzle the country’s key anti-corruption agencies. Their independence was curtailed by a swiftly enacted law placing them under the direct control of the prosecutor-general, appointed by Zelenskyy.
The backlash from both domestic and Western critics was so intense that Zelenskyy was compelled to reverse the legislative changes. The timing of this new corruption scandal has dismayed Ukrainians, according to local media reports.
