Zelenskyy says not enough has been done to cleanse the system of corruption

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that not enough has been done in Ukraine to free the governance system from corruption. The politician said this said during a joint press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

The journalist asked the president whether the measures taken so far were enough to cleanse the government of corruption and what the next steps would be.

"As for whether it is enough? No, it's not enough," Zelenskyy replied.

He announced that "we will continue to take appropriate actions," but did not give any other details.

On November 10, the day anti-corruption agencies reported on Operation Midas, Zelenskyy's first reaction was to support the inevitability of punishment for corrupt officials. One of the suspects in this case on corruption in the energy sector is Timur Mindich, a former business partner and friend of the head of state.

Two days later, the president spoke in favor of dismissal of minister of Energy Svitlana Hrynchuk and her predecessor in office, now the minister of Justice Herman Halushchenko. Zelenskyy also announced sanctions against two defendants in the case, Mindich and Oleksandr Zukerman. The restrictions were introduced the next day.

At the same time, the president claimed that he had not spoken to Mindich since announcement of an anti-corruption investigation.

• Earlier, at one of the court hearings the SAPO prosecutor, claiming Mindich's influence, cited a recording of one of the defendants' calls, in which Zelenskyy called Halushchenko. The businessman claimed that the call took place after his text message to the head of state – full conversation here.
• On November 15, the President and the Government determined the procedure for renewing the leadership of major state-owned energy companies after operation Midas.
• On the same day, G7 ambassadors welcomed Zelenskyy's response to the investigation and emphasized the importance of anti-corruption reforms for joining the EU and NATO.