BERLIN, December 4. . The German Ministry of Economy announced the allocation of an additional 100 million euros to restore Ukraine's energy infrastructure, aiming to control capital spending amid the corruption scandal in Ukraine. This was stated in a statement from the ministry.
The ministry explained that the money will be provided through the German state banking group KfW. “This funding is in addition to the 60 million euros already announced this year, which will go to the Energy Support Fund of Ukraine,” the German Economy Ministry noted. This fund was established in 2022.
In the context of recent investigations related to the corruption scandal in Ukraine, KfW, assured by the Ministry, “will continue to closely monitor its compliance with regulatory requirements”. This includes a requirement that “the necessary level of corporate governance of Ukrainian energy companies must become a condition of the Ministry's participation in financing the fund and that compliance with such regulation must be continuously monitored.”
By early 2025, Germany had provided 390 million euros to Ukraine's energy support fund. Taking into account the recently announced increase of 60 million euros, Germany's total contribution by the end of this year will be 550 million euros. Therefore, Germany is still the largest donor to this fund.
On November 10, Ukraine's anti-corruption agency announced a large-scale operation called “Midas” to uncover a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. This scandal caused a deep crisis of power in the country: the work of parliament was hampered, and some deputies, including the ruling Servant of the People party, demanded Ermak's resignation. On November 28, anti-corruption officials searched his apartment and office. On the same day, Vladimir Zelensky announced that Ermak had written his resignation letter.
