«They Won’t Fly Back by Themselves»: ТІ Ukraine Started a New Campaign

The Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption organization Transparency International launched a new communication campaign to remind the Ukrainian authorities that, without their effort, the assets stolen by Yanukovych’s criminal regime will not return to Ukraine on their own.

 The Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR), organized by the US and UK governments with the support of World Bank, will take place in Washington, USA from December 4 to December 6, 2017. The organizers will focus on four priority countries: Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Tunisia and Ukraine. However, it remains a mystery what the Ukrainian authorities are going to report to the international community. After all, the recovery of former regime’s assets has been dragging on for years, and the Ukrainian authorities keep making new promises and setting new deadlines for solving corruption-related cases of “Yanukovych’s team.”

“Unfortunately, not a single indictment on proceedings of corruption-related crimes involving Yanukovych and former top officials from his inner circle has been referred to the court yet. UN Convention against Corruption establishes the significance of search and seizure of illegally obtained assets. However, Ukrainian law enforcement officials, Prosecutor General’s Office in particular, do not seem to prioritize this area so far,” commented Andrii Sliusar, manager of the top-level corruption counteraction program.

Let us remind that the inactivity of Ukrainian law enforcement agency led to Yanukovych’s “accomplice” Yurii Ivaniushchenko getting removed from the EU sanction list earlier this year. That is why it is of extreme importance to make progress in the remaining investigations which are now under the jurisdiction of Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. To prove the criminality of corrupt actions of Yanukovych’s inner circle in Ukraine is a necessary prerequisite for recovery of numerous assets frozen in various foreign jurisdictions as the result of personal sanctions.

That is why, ahead of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery, the Ukrainian chapter of Transparency International started the communication campaign “They Won’t Fly Back By Themselves” to encourage Ukrainian law enforcement to persist in their investigation of corruption-related crimes of Yanukovych and his inner circle. The city-lights can be found in Kyiv. TI Ukraine once again emphasizes the great public interest in the recovery to the national budget of assets illegally obtained by Yanukovych’s regime.

For reference: The agreement to hold the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) in 2017 was one of the results of the Anti-Corruption Summit in London in 2016. The organizers deem GFAR’s objective to be to study the progress in investigation of corruption in priority countries and improve international assistance and cooperation in recovery of the stolen assets. Government delegations from priority countries and countries from which the return of assets has been requested, representatives of the civil society from these countries as well as representatives of international organizations will participate in the Forum.

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