On December 9, International Anti-Corruption Day, representatives of the Ukrainian state, anti-corruption initiatives, public figures and European and international partners took part in the conference “Seven Years of Anti-Corruption Reform”.
“Since the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has achieved remarkable progress in fighting corruption and closing the space for corrupt practices. The concrete and tangible achievements we continue to see day by day are the results of the constant efforts of the institutions, civil society and dedicated staff present at the conference today. We know that it will not be an easy path, but we are confident that Ukraine, with all its immense potential, will ultimately succeed”, said Matti Maasikas, EU Ambassador in Ukraine, Head of EU Delegation to Ukraine.
The conference highlighted the main achievements of anti-corruption reform over 7 years, including the following:
- 358 people were charged as a result of the NABU investigations (as of December 2021), another 666 people were reported as suspects.
- The NACP Register of Declarations is the largest database on the wealth of officials in the world. The registry also contains a module for automatic verification of declarations, which helps to quickly identify violations.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court has passed 56 verdicts as a court of first instance against 59 people; 189 criminal proceedings are pending.
“Cooperation between anti-corruption agencies is extremely important. Join forces when possible. The interaction of all participants of the processes will make us more effective than ever,” said the head of EUACI Allan Pagh Kristensen, “We are glad to promote cooperation within the created infrastructure. One example is the EUACI-supported eCase Management system, which provides digital work with criminal proceedings and connects NABU, SAP and HACC. This is a unique system with huge potential.”
Head of NACP Oleksandr Novikov stressed that the national agency has introduced major changes in the last two years after the reset: “We are the second country in the world after the United States to monitor the lifestyle of officials. Due to the materials collected during this monitoring, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court and for the first time in its history, Ukraine has had a case of confiscation of unjustified assets worth over UAH 1 million. And most importantly: since May 2021, the declarations have revealed inaccurate information for UAH 1 billion.”
During the discussion, the director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine Artem Sytnyk stressed that the anti-corruption infrastructure in Ukraine has been formed and, despite attempts to undermine its independence, anti-corruption agencies continue to work effectively. Artem Sytnyk declared that “No official involved in corruption, regardless of political affiliation or position, has a guarantee that he will not be prosecuted.”
During the conference, representatives of civil society and anti-corruption agencies presented their views on the challenges and prospects of the fight against corruption. Among them:
- the need to adopt a national anti-corruption strategy;
- unfinished competition for the position of the head of the SAPO;
- the need to hold a transparent competition for the election of future heads of NABU and ARMA (Asset Recovery and Management Agency).
The conference was organised by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) with the support of the EU-funded European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) and the USAID Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions (SACCI).
