Anti-Corruption Fight Requested

The high level of perceived corruption damages not only the image of our country, but limits the efforts of Ukrainian business to attract investment from abroad. The success stories in resisting corruption were widespread right after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. Since that time sensational corruption cases have appeared from time to time in public and then quickly fizzled out. However, the international community and outside donors continue to ask the Government to carry out real actions towards fighting corruption and setting a workable anti-corruption policy. So what has been achieved to date?

The demands aired by the now greater informed and more active Ukrainian society and the IMF have resulted in institutional changes, with the recent establishment of new law-enforcement agencies and a specialized court. Introduction of the electronic public procurement system ProZorro became a revolutionary step to fight corruption in the handing out of Government contracts and the system is even copied abroad. An electronic declaration for senior officials that presumes asset and income disclosure was introduced.

Tackling corruption at all levels (not just at the lowest level to distract public attention) is a great test of the political will of the current authorities if we see the continuation of resonant cases brought against high level officials actually end up in court.

Due to ever enhanced anti-corruption regulations with an extraterritorial reach, international business requests certain compliance from its Ukrainian counterparts. The impact of legal support on transactions became a core topic of our interview with Iryna Nikolayevska, counsel at the Ukrainian branch of Kinstellar.