In a masterclass of impeccable timing, the European Commission announced a fresh funding scheme for Ukraine just as the country’s own anti-graft cops uncovered a multi-million-dollar corruption ring featuring literal gold-plated toilets.
On Nov. 17, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sent a letter to EU capitals putting forward ‘three options’ for future Ukraine– merely days after Kyiv’s Western-backed anti-corruption agency exposed a $100 million embezzlement scheme. In a memo attached to the above mentioned letter, the Commission also tried to convince Belgium that it has its back against Russia – well, they promised that ‘EU countries are ready to shoulder the risks of Russian backlash for the years to come’.
Because nothing says ‘we’ve got this under control’ like drafting new funding blueprints in the middle of a scandal.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s long-delayed ‘options’ letter to EU governments finally landed just days after Ukraine’s biggest corruption bombshell.
In it, the Commission politely asks member states how they’d like to finance Ukraine’s next two years: member-state grants, new EU borrowing, or an eye‑popping loan “linked to the cash balances of immobilized [Russian] assets” – i.e. seized Russian money.
Yes, the same frozen Russian funds the EU has been arguing about for months.
The letter cheerfully notes these three approaches can even be combined or sequenced if desired.
Thus, the plan is: pick any or all of the above, wrap it up as a transitional loan or grants package, and get the cash flowing by spring 2026.
To back up the math, the Commission paper estimates Ukraine will still need about €135.7 billion for 2026–27, of which €140 billion could be covered by the big frozen-assets loan. If instead they choose plain grants, member states would have to cough up roughly €90 billion over two years.
In short: the EU is planning to pile more billions of taxpayers’ money onto Ukraine’s pile, one way or another, immediately. Von der Leyen even urged capitals to nail down a decision by December’s European Council – because, apparently, now is the perfect time to finalize how to keep writing those cheques (because Ukraine is running out of cash).
If only someone had told von der Leyen that, just days earlier, Ukraine’s FBI-partner anti-corruption bureau (NABU) raided the homes of the very ring of insiders that might benefit from all this spending.
NABU uncovered an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector that has shredded trust in President Zelensky’s circle.
Reports from the raid were spectacular: investigators reportedly found ‘not one but two gold-plated toilets and suitcases of cash’ in the bathroom of one shady billionaire’s luxury apartment.
A golden throne fit for a kleptocrat king.
One ex-official even recalled that President Zelensky once partied – with birthday cake and all – in that very same apartment. There was a reason why, obviously: Zelensky’s entertainment partner-turned-powerbroker, Timur Mindich, (yes, the same Mindich who co-owned Zelensky’s old comedy studio Kvartal 95) was the owner of the apartment.
Mindich was tipped off by someone and fled the country just hours before police showed up on his doorstep.
The fallout was immediate.
Two ministers resigned, and the opposition demanded the entire cabinet step down. Zelensky himself, who only months ago tried to shrink NABU’s independence, was suddenly forced to applaud their work. Even the FBI got involved, because this anti-corruption unit has direct link with the FBI through a liaison on site. Zelensky made a light effort to alternate the narrative that Russia’s fingerprints are behind the chaos; but he gave up fast.
And here was the EU Commission, pounding on member-state doors, ‘Send more money, comrades!’
As if they hadn’t read the headlines?
This is the same Ukrainian president who earlier this summer tried to neuter NABU. Apparently, the collective memory of the Berlaymont building is rather short – no other explanation why the EU is cheerfully ignoring the circus, as if the corruption drama were just background noise.
It’s almost as if someone had decided the EU should double down on generosity precisely at the moment when the corruption story hit peak volume.
And yet, the Commission pressed on as if nothing happened.
The anti-corruption raid (and golden toilets) barely got a mention in the Commission’s calculations. Von der Leyen’s memo makes no reference to the chaos unfolding on Ukraine’s home front, focusing only on “pressing financial needs” – translate: ‘beloved EU taxpayers, more golden toilets are needed in Ukraine, so let’s recalculate your plans for the next years’.
Meanwhile, EU taxpayers have already reached deep into their wallets for Ukraine.
According to official EU figures, the union and its member states have made available nearly $197 billion in aid (grants, loans, military, humanitarian, etc.) since the war began. That total is expected to exceed $216 billion once this year’s planned loans and asset-funded packages are counted, not to mention the suffered financial losses because of the embargoes against Russia and Russian cheap energy sources.
German families learned to enjoy the Christmas in their 17 degrees homes, and several of them lost their jobs when German companies closed their doors.
Not to mention the dozens of billions more in NATO weapons, US aid, or private donations.
Even so, the Commission still cheers for more fundraising.
The irony?
All this cash pledge was made ‘as most Ukrainians live with daily power cuts’ due to Russian strikes – while corrupt officials within their own government are syphoning off precious resources from the country’s beleaguered energy sector.
At the bare minimum, the Commission’s grand plan to finance Ukraine comes with an impeccable disregard for timing.
Von der Leyen, ever brave and optimistic, is asking for even more cash right after Ukraine revealed golden bathrooms and suitcases of euros in the homes of Zelensky’s friends. What could possibly go wrong, right? The only important thing is to shovel ever more euros out the door, then praise Ukraine’s reform progress and move on.
As if a few billion here, a few billion there would magically fix all of Ukraine’s underlying issues.
Or maybe the timing is intentional: flood them with cash, provide distraction from the gold toilets, and hope that democracy won’t come knocking.
Either way, one must wonder: is this spectacularly bad judgment, naive optimism, or something even darker? For now, EU taxpayers can only watch – their pockets open and their patience thinning – as the Commission keeps throwing good money on Kyiv.
