Ukraine's farm minister named as suspect in corruption case

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency is treating Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky as a suspect in an investigation into the illegal acquisition of state-owned land worth about $7 million, Ukrainian media reported on Tuesday.

The minister addressed the media reports, saying the allegations pertain to a period in 2017-2018 when he worked as a lawyer in a dispute between state-owned enterprises and individuals in a statement on Telegram messaging app.

“I guarantee maximum openness to establish the truth, but there is no need for this – all data is open to law enforcement, and the evidence and arguments of the parties are being considered by the courts,” Solsky said.

Solsky has overseen the embattled grain industry during the war with Russia since his appointment in March 2022.

The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine said in a statement that it had uncovered a scheme led by a current minister to illegally acquire state-owned land worth 291 million hryvnia ($7.35 million).

The statement did not name Solsky, but said the suspect was the former chairman of the parliamentary agrarian committee, a post Solsky held before becoming agriculture minister in March 2022.

The statement said the scheme also involved an additional attempt to acquire land worth 190 million hryvnia.

If confirmed, Solsky would be the first known government minister under President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to be named as a suspect in a corruption case.

The reports come amid mounting speculation about an impending government reshuffle.

($1 = 39.6001 hryvnias)

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Pavel Polityuk; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage, Ed Osmond, William Maclean)