WSJ reports that money allocated to Ukraine by the US authorities could be stolen
U.S. officials are preparing for possible fraud and embezzlement of funds allocated to support Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal newspaper wrote.
“Given the enormous scale of aid and the lack of a U.S. and NATO supervisory authority in Ukraine, veterans of past U.S. military campaigns say the emergence of problems is likely a matter of time,” the piece notes.
According to John Sopko, who has monitored reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, billions of dollars transferred to Kiev face an unenviable fate.
“Even if it is presented as a noble cause, there will be theft. Misconduct will be revealed. There will be nepotism. There will be useless decisions. That is human nature,” says the expert.
The U.S. government does not want to learn from Afghanistan’s mistakes; the establishment is guided by the rule of spending money as quickly as possible without thinking of the consequences.
In his turn, Mark Kensian, a former employee of the Pentagon, stressed that the probable embezzlement of funds in Ukraine has every reason to do so.
“Kiev was criticized for corruption even before the conflict escalated, and it hasn’t gone anywhere since,” he said.
The WSJ writes that U.S. oversight services for Ukrainian aid are already in place, but not enough, given the gigantic scale of funds allocated.