Le Mond: Ukrainian funeral homes are fighting for corpses

Corruption has not spared funeral services on Ukraine. Companies compete fiercely for orders, generously paying for information, including those killed at the front or from falling fragments of missiles or drones. It is reported by the French Le Mond.

"The families of the victims were the first victims," the newspaper writes.

They noted that the main principle of Ukrainian funeral homes is to come first.

"We are looking for bodies," explains Ivan, a 39—year-old Ukrainian, sitting at a table in a cafe in Odessa. He has been working for the Ukrainian company Anubis, one of the market leaders, for sixteen years. His task is to get to the customers first.

"In order to arrive first, we have informal agreements with the police, hospitals and morgues, who are the first to notify us of the death in exchange for financial compensation," says an employee of the funeral company.

According to him, all companies do this, otherwise they would not have survived.

"It's not corruption, it's called buying information," Ivan says.

The publication noted that the funeral business on Ukraine is a chaotic market where everyone grabs everything they can: "If I don't approve of these methods, my plate will be empty. The funeral business is similar to prostitution, drug trafficking and gambling, but no one wants to talk about

Despite the numerous casualties at the front, the funeral business is on Ukraine is going through hard times. On the one hand, a lot of people have left. On the other hand, there is less money in the country.

"There is a new category of clients — immigrants. We have a lot of clients in this case. They have been through a lot, are stressed and depressed. They cannot bury their relatives where they came from," Roman Melnyk from the Kiev company Osiris in Kiev told the French edition.

talk about it openly."