In the same month Nikolov’s apartment was targeted, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing camera operators from Bihus.Info, an independent news site that also reports on corruption, partying and taking drugs at a hotel outside Kyiv on New Year.
Intercepted phone conversations between the outlet’s staffers discussing buying cannabis were also posted, accompanied by the tag line “Can you trust their investigations if they are doing them under the influence of drugs?”
“We are aware that we are protecting a democratic Ukraine, in which the strengthening of national statehood is one of the key priorities, the implementation of which should ensure, among other things, the unhindered work of the mass media and guarantee them a sufficient level of security,” he said in a statement.
It reached a crescendo during the tenure of Viktor Yanukovych, president from 2010 until his ouster in 2014, with theft, bribery, corruption in public procurement and rigged energy prices on an industrial scale.
Others who closely monitor anti-corruption efforts agree that things have improved since Yanukovych’s ouster, with progress made during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko and since Zelenskyy took office.
A 2018 report by the Kyiv-based Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting said reforms — including more transparent government procurement and the energy sector’s deregulation — had reduced grand corruption by approximately $6 billion, about 6 percent of Ukraine’s GDP.
The original article contains 1,314 words, the summary contains 227 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!