Ukraine has made some progress in the fight against corruption, but all videos remain – the European Commission
The European Commission welcomes the European Court of Auditors’ attention to the problems of corruption in Ukraine and the effectiveness of EU assistance in overcoming it, considering Ukraine’s efforts to combat this phenomenon in some sectors of the economy, but noting the possibility of further reform.
This was stated at a briefing in Brussels on Friday by European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero, answering questions from journalists about yesterday’s critical report of the European Court on the effectiveness of EU funds to help Ukraine fight corruption, reports.
“The European Union has made significant efforts to promote the anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine. In some areas of support, EU reform has been very successful, closing the gap for corruption, investing in competition and transparency in the lower sectors, including banking and gas. You know that new anti-corruption agencies have been established in Ukraine, and the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has started working, ”said a review by the European Commission.
She recalled that Ukraine had established an unprecedentedly transparent system of income declaration, which drew the attention of civil servants and politicians to disclose information about private data, and this has been done recently. Therefore, Ukraine has already grown a lot in this direction, although the challenges remain and also require the implementation of anti-corruption reforms, which must be continued. According to the spokeswoman, the EU will continue to support Ukraine in these efforts.
“Yesterday, the Parliament of Ukraine passed a law on oligarchs. We believe that we are interested in the election of President Zelensky to overcome this phenomenon, and all this will be significantly related to the fact that the oligarchs have the economic and political life of Ukraine. We have taken into account that the Ukrainian parliament has passed this law, which provides for the fight against threats to national security, which affects the excessive influence of individuals or oligarchs, and determines their political role in the country, “Pisonero said.
“We think it’s a step forward. But, of course, we can begin and share whether this law will be implemented, fully, decisively and legally. We can show the next steps in the fight against corruption. The Ukrainian authorities need to take more such steps forward, within limits, in closing the institutional gaps that still persist, ”the European Commission spokeswoman added.
According to Ukrinform, on September 23, the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg issued a critical report identifying the ineffective efforts of the European Commission and the use of EU funds to support anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine. According to the authors of the report, corruption in Ukraine continues to show signs of an “epidemic” and to analyze the entire sphere of society, which requires the EU to adjust its efforts in support of reforms and in relations with Ukraine.