The level of corruption in Ukraine is much lower than five years ago
The report of the auditors of the European Court on the effectiveness of European institutions in combating corruption in Ukraine contains a conclusion on changes for the better, on which the European Commission may have different views.
This was stated by the Deputy Head of the Directorate General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Head of the Support Group of Ukraine in the European Commission Katarina Maternova during the presentation of the report “Reducing Major Corruption in Ukraine: Several EU Initiatives but Still Ineffective Results” Meeting of the European Parliament’s committees on foreign affairs and budget control, Ukrinform correspondent reports
“We all agree that Ukraine still has problems with corrupt behavior and oligarchic structures, with unreformed courts, with low state-owned enterprises and other areas where corruption exists. But what we have a very different approach from the Court of Auditors is the assessment of trends. Ukraine is now a much less corrupt country than it was five years ago. There are studies and documents to prove this. There are these sectors of the economy that are now free of corruption, “Maternova said.
Examples include the anti-corruption reform of the National Bank and the introduction of the Prozorro instrument in systemic public procurement, which, together with reforms in the gas sector and other positive changes, is estimated by research to have a small positive economic effect of about 6 percent of Ukraine’s GDP. about 6 billion euros annually.
“We do not agree with the decision that the EU does not have a strategic approach to Ukraine. The fight against corruption was not the subject of a single project, it was the main topic in bilateral relations in the previous six months … It was part of the political and international dialogue, in particular, within the “Great”, a component of macro-financial assistance, which is closely linked to the conditions of the IMF, “said a representative of the European Commission.
She reminded that that is why anti-corruption institutions and tools were set up in Ukraine. A few weeks ago, the Ethics Council worked in Ukraine as part of judicial reform, which will assess the integrity of candidates for positions in the High Council of Justice. Processes for the establishment of investigative bodies within NABU were unblocked and the effectiveness of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court was ensured – in both cases, independent international representatives were involved in their formation.
“As an approach to our strategic, it contains several main blocks. The first is to prevent corruption through transparency. One of the most far-reaching wealth registration systems in the world was created in Ukraine. Another is the accession of competition to the economic sector, which closes the space for corruption… The third area is the creation of institutions for prevention, investigation and justice. Ukraine now has a High Council of Justice, a Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, and bodies and investigators. it would be possible not to happen without auxiliary international partners, without well-thought-out support from the EU, “Maternova said.
She agreed that there are many problems in Ukraine in the fight against corruption. But, she said, it would be unfortunate if the report could not motivate Ukrainians to pursue reforms.
“It will be very unfortunate if this message to Ukrainians is, he said, you are not doing anything. We strongly disagree with this message. We must inspire them to continue to eradicate corruption and oligarchic structures. But to do this, recognize the existence that Ukraine today has a very tendency to what kind of country it was five years ago, “- summed up the representative of the European Commission.
As Ukrinform reported, on September 3, the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg joined a criminal report recognizing the ineffective use of EU funds to support rights and fight corruption in Ukraine, and provided recommendations for adjusting EU policy in this area.