Over the past six months, there have been many changes in the fight against corruption in Ukraine. But that’s still not enough.

Admittedly, a number of changes has been made to the new power in its turbo mode: the law on the protection of whistleblowers, the second procurement revolution, the restart of the NACP, the normalization of the case transfer process to the Anti-Corruption Court, the strengthening of NABU-SAPO (for example, wiretapping for the Bureau and abolition of the state monopoly for examination) and other stories.

Without these victories, the effectiveness of the fight against corruption would be different. However, this is only part of the way. The anti-corruption infrastructure and justice need to be further strengthened.

During his speech at the “Reform Forum: Towards Vilnius”, TI Ukraine Executive Director Andrii Borovyk spoke about the steps we are waiting for from the authorities.

In particular, Ukraine needs:

  • to change the procedure of appointing heads of anti-corruption bodies: the head of the NABU and the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office;
  • to reform of the judiciary – the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges block judicial reform that could obstruct any progressive changes. This year the Government envisaged to obtain UAH 12 bln from privatization. One court decision could undermine these plans;
  • to move forward the law on the Bureau of Financial Investigation and the reform of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Lack of an effective system of checks and balances is a significant challenge for Ukraine on the path to reforms. We need to build strong institutions and enhance their independence by implementing principles of good governance.

Unfortunately, we see a desire to manage institutions manually rather than to build strong and independent bodies.

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Lack of an effective system of checks and balances is a significant challenge for Ukraine on the path to reforms. We need to build strong institutions and enhance their independence by implementing principles of good governance.

Andrii Borovyk, Executive Director of TI Ukraine