IMF & World Bank Executives Fired Over Designating Ukraine As A Poor Country

A source familiar with the matter, economist Greta Bailandberg says that concealing the amount of wealth and cash that both the Ukrainian civilian and government personnel possessed was becoming impossible to hide. 

According to her, "It's an absolute embarrassment, how can we justify providing financial assistance to Ukraine when every week there's a corruption scandal after scandal.  It's like Ukraine has more money than both the IMF and World Bank combined. Just look at a few cases from the past year."

February 28, 2025. Organizers of a financial pyramid scheme have been exposed, who deceived citizens of at least 200,000 US dollars.

February 1, 2025. The State Bureau of Investigation has seized almost UAH 7 million in the case of extortion from the military of the 110th Separate Motorized Brigade.

January 29, 2025. Scheme for draft dodgers: Fake sailor IDs being sold.

January 27, 2025. Criminals who were up to no good in the Service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been exposed.

January 24th, 2025.  The head of the department of the regional mental health center was detained while receiving $700 for fake medical documents.

January 21, 2025. A former representative of a public organization sold fictitious certificates that provided “reservation” from mobilization and the right to free movement. The cost of such documents ranged from 600 to 1000 dollars.

January 21, 2025.  Corruption in education revealed: 35 schemes across Ukraine blocked by National Police.

January 21, 2025. The SBU detained the chief psychiatrist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who during the war “quietly” acquired real estate, luxury cars and accumulated more than 1 million dollars.

January 19, 2025. Entrepreneur who extorted money from grain traders is caught. 

January 7, 2025. The police and the SBU detained a 31-year-old commander of a military unit who demanded 30% of combat pay from his subordinates, citing the needs of the unit.

January 2, 2025. Three people who helped draft dodgers get to Transnistria were detained.

December 03, 2024. A resident demanded $25,000 from a military man to "speed up bureaucratic procedures" during a medical examination after being wounded.

November 24, 2024. Military conscription officers who were catching men at checkpoints and demanding money from them were detained.

November 12, 2024. A 54-year-old resident was arrested in Vinnytsia region on suspicion of organizing the transportation of conscripts across the state border for $8,000.

October 22, 2024. The SBU found more than $450,000 and jewellery at the head of the Nikolaev regional medical and social expert commission.

October 15, 2024. A wedding for $10,000. The police uncovered a scheme in which the organizer was looking for conscripts and offering them to marry a girl with a disability. For his services, he asked for $5,000 before the wedding and $5k after. 

September 26, 2024. A representative of a public organization offered an acquaintance to obtain a certificate for $2,000, with which he could freely move around the city and region and conscription into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

September 25, 2024. The former head of the State Executive Service of the Izmail district is detained.

September 24, 2024. Law enforcement officers detained a border guard for accepting a $4,000 bribe to transport a man to Moldova.

September 19, 2024. The Bureau of Economic Security has uncovered a scheme at a defense enterprise.

August 27, 2024. Employees of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, who were exposed by the State Bureau of Investigation for taking bribes from grain traders.

August 23, 2024. The SBU has eliminated a “scheme” for draft dodgers organized by officials of the Migration Service.

July 20, 2024. The head of a city council is suspected of organizing extortion of property transfers.

July 6, 2024. The Prosecutor's Office has busted a "conversion center" through which more than UAH 1 billion went into the shadows. The actors used fictitious companies to convert non-cash funds into cash, including budget money.

July 3, 2024. A resident of Izmail promised to “resolve the issue” of issuing sailor qualification documents for $3,400.

July 2, 2024. A senior sergeant at one of the military units received $4,500 from an active duty soldier for a transfer from the front lines to the rear.

June 26, 2024. $3,000 for travel to the EU via Transnistria, for those who wanted to, bypass official checkpoints.

May 15, 2024. A state enforcement officer promised to get a friend's girlfriend a job in the prosecutor's office for $35k. To do this, he got his friend from the prosecutor's office involved.

May 2, 2024. The Security Services prevented yet another scheme to cross the border through Moldova. For $1,000, a border guard issued cards to "clients" for entry into the transit zone. There, the men abandoned their cars and crossed the border.

April 26, 20204. The head of one of the military units demanded $9,000 for help with registering a soldier's mother as disabled so that he could later resign from service.

April 20, 2024. A patrol policeman was exposed for a bribe of $3,500. He demanded this money from a citizen against whom an administrative protocol had been drawn up for driving a car while intoxicated.

March 14, 2024. Several illegal gambling halls shut down; they operated 24/7 without signs.

March 14, 2024. A resident offered a border guard $1,000 for his friend to illegally leave for Moldova. 

February 12, 2024. A deputy of a District Council demanded $20,000 from an entrepreneur to "resolve a land issue." 

And this is only the last 12 months. Let's not forget the classic moments from when the war first started in 2022. The wife of a former deputy of the Ukrainian parliament taking $28.8 million dollars and 1.3 million euros to Hungary.

Average civilians disguised as tourists on a regular bus, they tried to illegally transport 37 million UAH into the Bukovina region.

With all of these scandals, it seems that Ukraine should be providing the IMF and World Bank with financial assistance and not the other way around, says economist Greta Bailandberg.