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However, all that happened was the cost of buying a medical exemption jumped from a few thousand dollars to $20,000, according to one recent report.
Zelenskiy's reforms are not going perfectly. Despite objections from anti-corruption activists, the Ukrainian government appointed Olena Duma
as the new head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA)
at the end of June, which has a bad reputation for corruption. ARMA is a special governmental body, authorised to formulate and implement state policy in the sphere of tracing, finding of assets that are subject to seizure.
Likewise, the nominally independent NABU has been accused of drifting
into the president’s orbit under
the newly appointed head, Semen Kryvonos, as Zelenskiy has clearly been concentrating more power in his own hands in the last year.
But Zelenskiy is clearly trying to break the “corruption is the system” mould and to start holding bureaucrats accountable. His anti-corruption campaign is broadening. In the most recent example, he vetoed a law in September that
would have reinstated the e-declaration requirement on all public servants,
but which had an amendment that the information submitted remains secret.
The IMF-sponsored law was one of the few really effective anti-corruption measures pushed through by Poroshenko,
but was suspended after martial law was imposed at the start of the war. Now it is being brought back, but Zelenskiy wouldn’t let it pass until the public disclosure clauses were included that allow the press and the public to check the sources of a public servant's wealth.
On September 22 the Rada passed a new version of the law with the disclosure requirements reinstated. In a televised interview on August 27, Zelenskiy proposed equating corruption with treason during wartime.
"I set a task. Legislators will be asked
to equate corruption with treason in wartime," Zelensky said. "I understand that it cannot work permanently, but for wartime, I think it will help.
Cost of damage to Ukraine from Russia’s war up to $150bn
Kyiv School of Economics
As of September 2023, marking the 16th month of the full-scale war, the documented damages to Ukraine's infrastructure caused by Russia's invasion have reached $150.5bn (at replacement cost), Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) reported on October 8.
The growth amounted to $0.7bn, which is modest considering that the previous update was three months ago. The largest part of the increase is attributed to the education assessment’s updates (plus $0.4bn).
Residential buildings account for the largest share of damages, totalling 37% or $55.9bn, followed by infrastructure at 24.3% or $36.8bn.
The damages to business assets currently amount to a minimum of $11.4bn and are still increasing. Additionally, the education sector has incurred direct damages of
$10.1bn, the energy sector has incurred direct damages of $8.8bn and the agricultural sector has incurred direct damages of $8.7bn due to the war.
The cumulative damages to public sector facilities, including social objects, educational and scientific institutions, healthcare facilities, cultural structures, sports facilities
and administrative buildings, are approximately $16.1bn.
Comprehensive and up-to-date reports, along with interim releases, of the damage assessments are always available on the KSE website (www.kse.ua).
The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) is a bne IntelliNews media partner and a leading source of economic analysis and information on Ukraine. This content originally appeared on the KSE website (www.kse.ua).
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