On December 9, the International Anti-Corruption Day, during the conference “7 Years of Anti-Corruption reform in Ukraine,” chargé d’affaires a.i. of the USA in Ukraine Kristina Queen announced the publication of the sanctions list, which would include, in particular, Ukrainians.

Before such an announcement, the Deputy Executive Director for Legal Affairs Kateryna Ryzhenko told Channel 4 what could we expect from sanctions:

“The US list may frighten potential candidates. Such sanctions have already shown their effectiveness. In Ukraine, there are a number of Ukrainians who are subject to sanctions, in particular, they are not allowed to travel, do business in the United States, and so on. It is worth paying attention to the fact that recently, the administration of Joe Biden has published a Strategy on Countering Corruption, where it outlined this issue more broadly.

According to the Strategy, the United States is going to cooperate with other countries. This means that people who are already on the sanctions list of Americans can potentially be included in the sanctions lists of other countries, which will significantly restrict the movement and freedom of theirs and their family members. Therefore, the results of such a sanctions list can be significant and effective. It is obvious that the United States is beginning to actively act towards the fight against corruption, and Ukraine and some senior officials will not be able to avoid such actions of the United States.

As of now, there is a gap in our country; it concerns the political interest in bringing some things to an end. Starting something is easy, but bringing it to a conclusion requires more efforts. The authorities should not prevent law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor’s office, the courts, and other structures from properly performing their work.cUkraine should be ashamed that its Western partners are fighting our corrupt officials, at a time when our authorities are not able to bring a number of criminal proceedings to their logical conclusion. We must show that not only international partners can do something about our problems, but we can also improve ourselves,” said Kateryna.

Read about who was sanctioned and what the US Strategy on Countering Corruption offers at the link.

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Ukraine should be ashamed that its Western partners are fighting our corrupt officials, at a time when our authorities are not able to bring a number of criminal proceedings to their logical conclusion. We must show that not only international partners can do something about our problems, but we can also improve ourselves.