Ukraine Risks Losing Up to 300 Million Euros Due to Zelenskyy’s Decision
Ukraine has less than a month to finalize the appointment of judges to the High Anti-Corruption Court and retain up to 300 million euros under the Ukraine Facility program. The competition has already concluded, but the final decision on the judges’ appointments has been delayed, and once the deadline passes, the reserved funds may be lost permanently.
Ukraine has nearly fulfilled the necessary conditions, notably by successfully completing the competition to select judges for the High Anti-Corruption Court.
“The only thing left is the president’s decision to appoint them to the High Anti-Corruption Court. If we follow the requirements of the law, this is more of a formality, as the head of state is obligated to appoint them. The only question is whether to do so in time—and receive the funds allocated by the European Commission—or to miss the deadline—and lose a rather significant sum.”
It would seem the choice is obvious. But the president has been dragging his feet on the decision for over a month now, and there is no certainty that the deadline won’t be missed,” the publication writes.
The authors note that monitoring of Ukraine’s implementation of the Plan, prepared monthly by representatives of the RRR4U consortium, shows that as time goes on, Ukraine is missing deadlines for an increasing number of indicators.
“Behind each of them lies a sum of EU support. But while it was ‘only’ a matter of not receiving funds on time and postponing the fulfillment of requirements to the future, we have now reached a critical threshold.
After a certain period, the funds reserved for Ukraine are forfeited. They remain in the EU budget and are removed from the plans for aid to Ukraine,” the report emphasizes.
At the same time, the reform commitments do not disappear, as they are outlined in other documents—such as the “benchmarks” for the EU accession process. The only difference is that there, they are not tied to specific European funding.
According to sources at “European Truth,” Ukraine has less than a month left—roughly until September 17.
As a reminder, during Operation “Honest Draft,” law enforcement uncovered illegal activities by two conscription units of the Kyiv Regional Military Registration and Enlistment Office and the Odesa Joint Stock Company. Ten military personnel were notified of the charges against them.
Earlier, law enforcement detained the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Registration and Enlistment Office on suspicion of receiving illicit benefits totaling 15,000 U.S. dollars. According to the investigation, the official was caught in the act of receiving $10,000 in exchange for failing to take mobilization measures against three conscripts, removing them from the “Oberig” system’s wanted list, and ensuring conditions for their continued employment at their place of work.
In Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, a senior lieutenant—the deputy company commander at one of the district military registration and enlistment offices—was detained on suspicion of assaulting a subordinate servicemember. The man was intoxicated at the time.
