Johann Wadephul made this statement on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Canada, ntw reports."A decisive fight against corruption in Ukraine is needed to ensure reliable Western support," Wadephul said, adding that allies support Ukraine in these endeavors.Earlier, German government spokesman Stefan Cornelius stated that the government expects Kyiv to conduct a transparent investigation into corruption allegations in the Ukrainian energy sector. However, he assured that the scandal currently does not affect German aid payments to Ukraine. The G7 foreign ministers also intend to further increase pressure on Russia in response to its war in Ukraine. In a joint statement released at the meeting in Canada, they reiterated their demand for an immediate ceasefire. The ministers also announced economic sanctions without providing details."We are increasing the economic costs for Russia and considering measures against countries and entities that are financing Russia's war effort," the statement said.BackgroundOn November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau reported that an exposed criminal organization had been operating in the energy sector and systematically receiving improper benefits from Energoatom's counterparties—amounting to 10% to 15% of the value of concluded contracts. The scheme was informally named the "barrier.""The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office are conducting a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector. 15 months of work and 1000 hours of audio recordings. The activities of a high-level criminal organization have been documented," stated the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.On the same day, Ukrainska Pravda reported: detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau arrived on the morning of November 10 to conduct searches at the premises of Timur Mindich, a co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio and an associate of Zelenskyy. The businessman himself had left the territory of Ukraine shortly before this. Later, searches were conducted at the premises of the Minister of Justice, Herman Halushchenko.Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau also established that the criminal group laundered approximately $100 million in illegally obtained funds. This took place on premises belonging to the former lawmaker and current Russian senator, Andrii Derkach.At the same time, the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Klymenko, created a commission to conduct an internal investigation into a possible data leak in the energy corruption case.Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that government officials must work with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to achieve results in the detectives' investigation into energy corruption.On November 11, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced notices of suspicion to seven individuals in the energy sector corruption case and detained five of the figures involved.