This document takes stock of recent progress (July 2023 to May 2024) in strengthening Ukraine’s anti-corruption ecosystem. It provides an update to a previous report and is published ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin in June 2024. It covers a tumultuous period in Ukraine, with numerous rapid developments on the battlefield impacting the entire country. In spite of all this, Ukraine continued to display a remarkable commitment in the realm of anti-corruption. Our report highlights the key developments contributing to consistent progress – although not without challenges – towards combating corruption.
The report covers:
1. Strengthening of the institutional capacity of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, including:
- Significant progress in high-profile corruption-related investigations and arrests.
- Establishment of a separate legal entity for the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
- Approval of the 2023–2025 Asset Recovery Strategy.
- Updated regulation on the sale of seized assets.
- Completion of the first independent audit of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP).
- Appointment of the new head of NACP.
- Re-opening of the asset declarations register.
2. Developments as part of the judicial reform, including:
- Creation of the Public Integrity Council and the qualification assessment of judges.
- Adjustments to the competition procedure to select Constitutional Court judges.
- Creation of the Kyiv City District Administrative Court.
3. Developments within the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC)
- Increased number of judges.
- Competition for vacant positions announced and candidate admission underway.
- Adoption of a law regarding partial single-person consideration of HACC cases
Of note: In October 2023, Transparency International Ukraine published its second study of the capacity, management and interaction of anti-corruption infrastructure bodies of Ukraine. According to the results, over the past three years, anti-corruption bodies have improved their average overall score from 3.4 to 3.9 points on a scale of 1 to 5, but there are significant differences in the maturity of individual institutions, which we address below.
This document is a joint publication of Transparency International Ukraine and the Basel Institute on Governance. A recent sister publication providing an overview of anti-corruption progress and gaps specifically related to Restoration efforts is available here.
Our report highlights the key developments contributing to consistent progress – although not without challenges – towards combating corruption.
