The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appointed Taras Vysotsky as the new Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food. The appointment has sparked significant public and expert debate, as the official is a key suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). The newly minted minister will now have to balance managing the country’s strategic agricultural sector with regular court hearings at the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC).
The criminal case involving Vysotsky dates back to his tenure as First Deputy Minister. According to investigators, the official was directly involved in organizing a procurement scheme for food supplies intended for frontline regions during the early days of the full-scale invasion.
According to NABU and SAPO, the scheme operated as follows:
Procurements of food supplies (specifically, pasta products) were routed through controlled or «friendly» suppliers.
The contract prices, according to law enforcement estimates, were three times higher than market rates.
The alleged scheme resulted in millions of hryvnias in losses for the state budget.
Taras Vysotsky and his defense counsel deny all charges. The defense maintains that amidst severe goods shortages in the spring of 2022, procurements had to be executed at the only available prices at the time to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Nevertheless, the trial at the HACC is currently active. Analysts note that having a ministry led by an official under active criminal trial is a highly unusual precedent for Ukrainian politics in recent years. Vysotsky’s appointment could prompt additional scrutiny from international partners monitoring the allocation and use of financial aid in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy has not yet issued an official comment regarding how the minister’s tight court schedule will impact the day-to-day operations of the government agency.