A Ukrainian court ordered this Friday that Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky be placed in pre-trial detention to face allegations of illegal acquisition of state-owned land between 2017 and 2021. The value of the land is estimated at 6 .5 million euros. The judge had set bail of 1.78 million euros, which Solsky paid, sparing himself the infamy and discomfort of spending 60 days in preventive detention, as part of the preliminary investigation opened against him in particular. .
Solsky, 44, is the first minister known to President Volodymyr Zelensky to be personally suspected in a corruption case. He was appointed Minister of Agriculture in March 2022, a position that the war has made very exposed: he is at the heart of kyiv’s effort to maintain the country’s colossal cereal production, despite occupation or mining. agricultural land, and allow exports despite difficulties in the Black Sea.
Claiming to be innocent of the facts alleged by the Anti-Corruption Court, he submitted his resignation on Thursday, but technically remains in his post until Parliament examines his request. As part of his duties, he has left Ukraine several times since the start of the war, which is why the prosecutor’s office requested his detention. He faces up to 12 years in prison.
A zero tolerance policy on corruption
Ukraine’s national anti-corruption agency announced on Tuesday that Mykola Solsky was suspected of having seized between 2017 and 2021 nearly 2,500 ha of public land in the Sumy region (north-east) worth of nearly 6.9 million euros and having “tried to appropriate other land” worth nearly 4.5 million euros by misappropriating official documents with the help of officials from the land service State responsible for cadastre and cartography. The land was allegedly transferred to war veterans on the condition that they lease it to private companies.
The defendants also sought to seize another 3,282 hectares of land but the police “prevented” them from doing so, according to the prosecution, which issued a suspicion notice against Solsky’s deputy, Markiian Dmytrasevych, who is currently on a working trip outside Ukraine as part of Ukraine’s accession negotiations to the EU as a member of the agricultural bloc.
Mykola Solsky worked for a law firm until 2019, according to her official biography. He was elected to Parliament that year, and chaired the agricultural commission.
Due to Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union, President Zelensky has initiated a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. Last year, he replaced his defense minister following allegations of corruption within the ministry.