The money-squeezing machine: why corruption in war-time Ukraine is increasing, not disappearing

Because this whole sad story, illustrated with a photo of approximately 1,500,000 dollars, is a key element of the state administration system, which was formed in Ukraine sometime in 1997 and has survived to this day without fundamental changes. Only the scale is constantly growing. And the war does not interfere with her in any way, rather the opposite.

Everyone who is appointed to a fairly prominent leadership position, not to mention the ministerial level, knows for sure that a person (or maybe several) from the predecessor will come to him and offer a financial scheme. Of course, this will be a criminal scheme based on the misappropriation of part of the public money that this institution operates. Or on the use of powerful tools that she has. Or on something similar. In the jargon of managers, this is called a "feeding area".

And certain employees of the institution, various business structures, and — most importantly — representatives of the governing body at a higher level are already involved in the scheme. That is, it is impossible for the new manager to refuse — it is the same as one gear in the gearbox suddenly starting to turn in an unplanned direction. Such a wrong cog, i. e. an honest civil servant, will simply be ground and thrown out of the system. Similar cases happen, but they are unique.

It is clear that the situation is variable. There are scenarios when the new manager already clearly knows the possibilities of the "feeding area" to which he was assigned (this usually happens in institutions that have existed for a long time and without changes, for example, "Ukrzaliznytsia"), so he gets rid of all the schemers of his predecessor and starts his own.

And it happens that the new leader publicly positions himself as a fighter against corruption, so he closes the old schemes of his predecessor, but opens new ones. You can write monographs about all this. Several have already been written, but it did not help to get rid of shadow schemes. One thing does not change: at all levels — from central to regional — proximity to power is used for enrichment.

And they are punished in this system only for what they did not do according to their rank, or - and this is the main crime - for not sharing with those who are higher, i. e. "consecrating". There is even a moral justification for this continuous draining of the juices from one's own country.

First, corrupt officials call what they do a kind of "lubricant in the state apparatus", without which it cannot work at all: the government will stop stealing - and everything will stop, it will be even worse than after a nuclear explosion. Secondly, part of the corruption money seems to go to good causes - orphanages, hospitals, support for sports, in short, for everything without which a normal life is impossible.

And even for shady extra payments to high-ranking officials, so that they - believe it or not - stole less. It doesn't help yet. And, of course, to the help of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. . . The war not only lifted the corrupt Vii's eyelids, it also untied his raking hands. Ukraine did not get rich on such a large scale and cynically even at the beginning of independence, when millions were made simply on the difference between the official and commercial exchange rates of the dollar.

The war added a bunch of new ones to the usual "feeding areas" and allowed them to act extremely brazenly, because "the war will cover everything. " That is why the corrupt do not just dream of the victory of Russia, they work for its victory. Because there is no Ukraine - there is no one to bear responsibility for the stolen. At the beginning of the post, I called these processes an element of public administration. And this is because they have a total character.

Leaders of all levels and directions get rich illegally, graciously allowing subordinates to get rich, but only obedient ones. Security forces are getting rich — and this is a separate story that is waiting for its chronicler. Deputies get rich by passing laws that will allow corrupt people to get rich. "Anti-corruption activists" and other similar activists get rich there, just like those with whom they "frantically fight". The service of those in power, including the media, is being enriched.

Children learn the craft of "making money for the state" from their parents, so the system is self-reproducing. And there is only one person in Ukraine who not only does not engage in corruption herself, but also does not see it around her, and to overcome this shameful phenomenon, she constantly lacks the authority. He is always the president of Ukraine, but only during his tenure, before and after, he sees everything and hates it so much that he would kill.