Ukraine's farm minister resigns over graft allegations

Ukraine's agriculture minister tendered his resignation on Thursday as he faces criminal allegations for involvement in an illegal acquisition of state-owned land worth $7 million, charges he denies.

Mykola Solsky, 44, has been at the center of Ukraine's effort to keep its grain industry going as the sector has been roiled since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022.

Solsky denies the allegations against him that prosecutors say relate to events between 2017 and 2021, before he became agriculture minister in March 2022.

A court is expected on Friday to determine whether to have him taken into custody. Prosecutors told a hearing on Thursday that the allegations against him were punishable by up to 12 years in jail.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau has said the allegations relate to a scheme to acquire state-owned land worth 291 million hryvnia ($7.35 million) and trying to obtain land worth 190 million hryvnia.

Under the alleged scheme, the land was illegally taken from two state firms and transferred to war veterans on the condition they lease it to some private firms, prosecutors said.

Solsky and his lawyer told the hearing on Thursday that he did not benefit from any such scheme.

Solsky is the first known minister under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be named a suspect in a corruption case.

His resignation will be reviewed at one of the next plenary sessions of Ukraine's parliament, Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on the Telegram messaging app.

"If the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) decides to accept my resignation, I will be grateful for such a decision, if it decides I should continue to work - I will continue to work," Solsky wrote on Telegram.

Kyiv has applied to join the European Union, and Ukraine's agriculture minister will be heavily involved in negotiations to integrate the country's giant grain industry into the 27-member bloc.

Several major agrarian associations issued statements voicing their support for the minister under whom they said the ministry had worked "professionally and smoothly with agricultural producers."

Zelenskyy has tried to project a zero-tolerance line on corruption and last year replaced his defense minister after graft allegations about the defense ministry.

Ukraine was among the world's leading grain and vegetable oil producers, but its output has sharply decreased due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

During the conflict, Solsky has been on numerous delegations tasked with trying to revive Black Sea grain exports, nurture exports via the Danube and ease a border blockade by protesting Polish truckers and farmers.

(With input from Reuters)