A Year of Resilience and Change: TI Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Achievements in 2025

2025 was a year of turbulence and uncertainty for all of us — one that once again reminded us who we are. Time and again, we proved that we can unite, defend the achievements of the Revolution of Dignity, and find the strength to keep moving forward.

Thanks to the Defense Forces of Ukraine, our organization has the opportunity to keep working safely in the rear and make Ukraine stronger — and share what we achieved over the past year.

1. Saved UAH 1 billion in public funds through procurement monitoring

Overall, our experts monitored 775 procurements over the year. As a result of our submissions, 13 criminal proceedings were opened.

2. Defended the independence of the NABU and the SAPO

In July 2025, TI Ukraine’s team played an active role in preventing the rollback of anti-corruption reform and safeguarding the independence of the NABU and the SAPO. Our experts swiftly analyzed the notorious Draft Law No. 12414, which threatened the foundations of reform, and made every effort to push for its amendment, including providing over 60 public comments to national and international media.

Thanks to joint efforts by civil society and international partners, the bill was withdrawn, preserving the key safeguards of Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure — though some issues still need to be addressed.

3. Together with partners, prepared two shadow reports on EU integration — on Fighting Corruption/ Justice, Freedom and Security, and on public procurement.

The results, including 143 recommendations, were presented in the second Shadow Report.

We also analyzed developments in the public procurement sector in 2024 and prepared the report. There, we highlighted key legal changes, performance indicators, oversight mechanisms, and protection of rights and interests. The report includes recommendations for improving procurement processes and oversight.

4. Transformed the Transparent Cities program and launched a new study — the European Cities Index. 

The goal of the new project is to assess how ready Ukrainian cities are for EU integration through the lens of transparency, accountability, and public engagement, aligned with European principles of good governance.

By the end of the year, the program had already presented the results of the first two parts of a pilot study based on European standards: it analyzed 10 regional centers — Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kropyvnytskyi, Lutsk, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv — as well as the capital city of Kyiv.

5. Transparent Cities experts prepared a ranking of the 100 largest cities across 21 regions of Ukraine and assessed each city’s transparency using 70 indicators.

Media outlets in every region published materials featuring the analysts’ recommendations. After the study was presented, the Transparent Cities experts held individual consultations with 20 city councils — more than 50 in total over the year. In addition, the program conducted a series of studies across the 100 cities, focusing on mayors’ accountability reporting, livestreaming of council meetings, humanitarian aid issues, and more.

6. Contributed to developing the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2026–2030 and the State Anti-Corruption Program to implement it

Earlier, our study of challenges in IT procurement helped refine the State Anti-Corruption Program — as a result, the Ministry of Digital Transformation abandoned the idea of creating a separate system for such procurements. Instead, the study outlined how to improve them without taking them out of Prozorro.

Our experts also worked on a report for the NACP on the most critical issues in public procurement. The results of this work will serve as the foundation for the sectoral section of Ukraine’s next Anti-Corruption Strategy. We are also supporting eight studies that will form the evidence base for the future Anti-Corruption Strategy and the SAP.

7. Published the results of the sixth stage of monitoring the HACC’s work and continued informing the public about the court’s activities

In particular, the HACC Decided platform has already added 497 case summaries, more than 116,000 documents, and 3,500 broadcasts. A year after its launch, the platform has already become a go-to, fast source of information for journalists — with details of top-level corruption cases, profiles of defendants, and high-quality analysis.

Following a comprehensive assessment of the HACC’s work, TI Ukraine prepared a report with recommendations to improve legislation, court practice, and the internal procedures of the High Anti-Corruption Court.

8. Improved the analytics module: integrated BI Prozorro with DREAM, added an option to analyze lots by the number of changes to tender documentation, and presented a new app for price analysis in Prozorro Market.

We also ran 16 training events (trainings, lectures) on how to use the BI Prozorro analytics tool, engaging 850 participants.

9. Held the second internship program

A total of 156 candidates applied for this year’s five-month program; 17 successfully passed interviews; 60% of participants completed the full cycle and received a certificate. Four interns have already joined our team.

The first 100 days alone meant over 400 hours of practical work in analytics, communications, and teamwork.

10. We conducted a nationwide sociological survey, “Ukrainians’ Awareness of Corruption, Reconstruction, and European Integration“ (third wave).

Together with Info Sapiens, we conducted a representative survey of over 1,000 Ukrainians, which made it possible to assess public sentiment regarding key processes shaping the country’s future.

The study provides a foundation for national and local decision-making, allowing policymakers to gauge public trust in reforms, progress achieved, and opportunities for further development in the field of anti-corruption.

 11. Pushed ARMA reform over the finish line

Our experts contributed to drafting the law reforming the ARMA, which entered into force on July 30, 2025. The reform introduces significant improvements to ensure transparency, accountability, and efficiency in managing seized assets.

In addition, a competition to select the Head of ARMA has already been launched — the selection commission is chaired by Kateryna Ryzhenko, TI Ukraine’s Deputy Executive Director for Legal Affairs. Recently, the start of the application period for candidates for the position of Head of ARMA was announced.

Going forward, to ensure full implementation of the ARMA reform, our lawyers, as part of an interagency working group, are drafting secondary legislation and amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. They have already reviewed 19 draft regulations and provided comments and recommendations.

12. Continuously analyzed and monitored the competition for HACC judges

After the first iteration of the selection process for HACC judge positions, two winners were appointed, and a new competition was then launched. TI Ukraine experts monitored every stage of this process and, as a result, prepared a https://ti-ukraine.org/research/problemy-drugogo-konkursu-z-vidboru-suddiv-vaks/report analyzing how the second competition for HACC judges was conducted, identifying systemic problems and providing recommendations to address them.

13. Strengthened international support for Ukraine

Through 13 advocacy trips to 8 countries, the TI Ukraine team presented research findings and recommendations on strengthening Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure.

Our representatives held meetings with embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as with the European Investment Bank and the IMF.

The discussions covered the NACP’s work, legislative changes needed for high-quality EU integration, the effectiveness of anti-corruption bodies, and safeguarding the independence of key institutions.

14. Supported the Defense Forces

Six members of our team have already joined the Ukrainian military. We also continue supporting various units — and, to mark TI Ukraine’s birthday, we closed a fundraiser totaling UAH 306,997 for the needs of the Artillery Battery of the 113th Territorial Defense Brigade and the UAV Unit of the Combined Rifle Brigade. Overall, throughout the year, the organization provided UAH 2,135,000 in assistance to the Armed Forces.

Ultimately, TI Ukraine has stood firm and is ready to do even more for Ukraine — in the new year 2026 and beyond!