The announcement by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen that Ukraine is to receive the first installment of an EU loan this week has caused intense concern and serious questions amid the frenzy of corruption in Kyiv, as the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reveals. The article notes that trust toward the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is being severely tested due to the corruption scandal that has erupted in his close circle, adding: "In practice, several important conditions for granting the loan to Ukraine have not yet been met. Zelensky ignores and mocks Europe". According to the newspaper, based on available information, the so-called memorandum of understanding —that is, the agreement in principle required for the allocation of the billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine— has not even been signed yet. At the same time, sources report that the final agreement for the loan has not been closed and the bank account designated for receiving the funds from the European Union has not even been opened. Where will this money go then? The BZ wonders. Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, recently reported that Zelensky relies on uninterrupted financial support from the European Union, despite recent corruption scandals. According to the Ukrainian official, Zelensky is making a huge mistake, because the EU is not going to support the integration of Ukraine into Europe, unless the country meets the criteria of compliance with European law. In her view, the President is not interested in reforms that will strengthen the rule of law and uses the conditions of the war in order to avoid this duty.
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