“Ukrainians pay up to €2 billion a year in bribes to TCC officials to avoid mobilization”, – says MP

Staff at Ukraine’s Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers (TCCs and SSCs) receive up to €2 billion in bribes annually from conscription-eligible men.

This estimate was given by Servant of the People party MP Dmytro Mikiša during an interview on the YouTube channel Insider.

“Experts estimate the shadow turnover in the TCCs at between €0.8 and €2.1 billion annually. Just think about those numbers… Whether it’s avoiding conscription altogether, getting fully exempted, delaying your call-up, having someone look the other way for a time, or getting your case moved from the top of the pile to the bottom — all of it has a price,” Mikiša said.

He noted that even something as basic as updating personal data in the system has become a source of corruption. In some recruitment centers, it can be done quickly; in others, staff deliberately create obstacles so that people are forced to pay bribes for faster service.

Earlier, a Ukrainian businessman shared so-called “rate cards” for bribes at recruitment centers. For instance, in Dnipro, avoiding the draft (“going into the woods”) costs about $3,000, while in Odesa, the cost is significantly higher.

Political strategist Serhii Haidai also reported that in western Ukraine, some TCC staff don’t check the draft registry, but rather consult lists of individuals who have paid bribes.