Rossiiskaya Gazeta Ukrainian military caught red-handed
The Ukrainian army has been caught up in a major scandal now having international reverberations. The command of the Ukrainian peacekeeping force in Kosovo has for years been engaged in smuggling fuel and faking official UN Kosovo Force (KFOR) documents. This bombshell went off when almost all the Albanian and Kosovo media, citing the force's command, reported that peacekeepers had been smuggling fuel, evading taxes and abusing economic and customs privileges granted to UN troops. At the same time, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) officially confirmed that it had searched the premises of selected companies in Kosovo reportedly collaborating with these smugglers and that five Kosovo Albanians had been arrested in connection with this case. Initially, neither the KFOR command, nor EULEX spokespeople named the peacekeepers' country of origin. But literally the next day the entire Balkan media, quoting their sources, pointed to the Ukrainian and French contingents, with the Ukrainians apparently ruling the roost in these shady dealings. According to journalists, Ukrainian peacekeepers, who number about 100 in Kosovo, would purchase cheap fuel in Bulgaria, get it through customs into Kosovo where they would resell it to local accomplices. No goods meant for KFOR troops are subject to customs duties, and all it takes is an official form to get past customs. Incidentally, forging these forms was another part of these Ukrainian peacekeepers' dodgy business portfolio - selling them at 2,000 euros a piece. Lastly, access to KFOR forms and official seals also helped the Ukrainians purchase fuel on the cheap in Kosovo itself, at a French military base. Remarkably enough, the French had turned a blind eye to the Ukrainian troops' strange behavior: they required almost as much fuel as the rest of the contingent put together. Kosovo's customs officers, however, did notice it, and addressed their concerns to the KFOR command. Investigators documented almost a hundred instances of crime. Estimates vary, but it is believed that Ukrainian peacekeepers profited to the tune of anywhere between 1.5 to several tens of millions of euros. Officials in Kiev are not keen to comment on these developments. The Defense Ministry claims that a letter sent by the KFOR command was not ignored, and that the military investigators have done their job. http://en.rian.ru/papers/20100924/160710284.html _______________________________________________ News mailing list n...@antic.org-snn http://lists.antic.org/mailman/listinfo/news
