MP Oleksii Kuznietsov is to be suspended from the ruling Servant of the People faction while he is under investigation for his part in a corruption scheme involving the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment. The scheme has just been exposed by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

Source : Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People faction, on Telegram; a statement from the Servant of the People party

Quote from Arakhamiia: "MP Oleksii Kuznietsov's membership of the faction will be suspended while the investigation is ongoing.

We await the court hearing of the case in due course. Those guilty of corruption offences must face just punishment, regardless of their status or position."

Details : Arakhamiia also stated that "the faction fully supports the effective actions of NABU and SAPO in combating corruption".

Update : The Servant of the People party later issued a statement announcing that it has removed Kuznietsov from his position as head of the oblast organisation, and the disciplinary commission is already considering his expulsion from the party.

The statement also says that Servant of the People "remains committed to transparent, fair governance and zero tolerance of corruption in all its forms".

Background :

• Earlier on 2 August, following a report from NABU director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a corrupt MP, several heads of local government and members of the National Guard had been caught accepting bribes.
• NABU and SAPO have exposed an MP, several heads of local government and service members from the National Guard as having been involved in bribery in relation to the procurement of drones and electronic warfare equipment. The scheme involved entering into state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices.
• Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that Oleksii Kuznietsov, an MP from the Servant of the People party, Serhii Haidai, Head of Mukachevo District State Administration in Zakarpattia Oblast and former head of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, and Andrii Yurchenko, Head of Rubizhne City Military Administration in Luhansk Oblast, are among those who have been exposed by NABU and SAPO as having been involved in large-scale corruption.
• Kuznietsov was one of the MPs who on 22 July voted in favour of the controversial draft law No. 12414, which contained amendments intended to deprive Ukraine's independent anti-corruption institutions of their autonomy and bring them under the prosecutor general's control.

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