The total test of Ukrainian officials for knowledge of the state language has already resulted in a corruption scandal. Certificates of knowledge of the Ukrainian language are being sold for $ 2,000
Mikhail Saakashvili, head of the Executive Committee on Reforms in Ukraine, has said that the requirement for state officials to receive a certificate of knowledge of the Ukrainian language (this provision of the law on total Ukrainianization came into force on 16 July 2021) triggered a large-scale extortion of bribes.
According to him, instead of taking the exam, certificates can be bought for 200 to 2,000 dollars, depending on their urgency.
Considering that 100,000 officials are expected to pass the state language exam by the end of the year, the total amount of corruption and rent-seeking turns out to be very significant.
In response to this statement, the National Commission for Ukrainian Language Standards accused Saakashvili of spreading false information and complained to law enforcement agencies.
At the same time, it is interesting that a whole list of government officials who have been appointed recently received such certificates literally on the day of their appointment. This includes the new Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar, who has already been implicated in the scandal of a Ukrainian athlete being called to the mat for sharing a photo with a Russian woman.
At the same time, many other civil servants have not been able to get them for a long time.