A May 22 justice ministry report says Ukraine met two of the Council of Europe’s corruption monitoring body's 13 recommendations.
Known as the Group of States Against Corruption, the report said that Ukraine
fully met two of GRECO’s requirements, “partially accomplished” 10, while one was not met
at all.
While
GRECO was pleased by Ukraine having approved the State Program on Preventing
and Combating Corruption for 2011-2015, it expressed concern over the public’s inadequate
involvement in the program.
The
report highlighted progress on a few issues, however, including passing a new law on ethics for
public administration. Also, GRECO welcomed the adoption of the General Rules
of Conduct for Public Servants in 2010.
Among other achievements, there was
the adoption of legislation on public officials’ conflicts of interests and
the launch of a program for regular trainings for public officials.
These
training sessions for public officials will be maintained by Kyiv’s National University of
Internal Affairs, the Academy of Governance under the President of Ukraine and
ministries.
The
report also mentions Ukraine’s other moves toward meeting GRECO
recommendations, including revising the punishment for corruption and introducing
legislation on the protection of informants.
On the down
side, GRECO expressed
concern that Ukraine still has not fixed the legal basis for such fundamental
areas as the law enforcement bodies, public administration reform and public
procurement procedures. In particular, GRECO recommended to review legislation
on public procurement, ensure that prosecutors are independent from political
influence and to clarify their powers in managing pre-trial investigations and
prosecution. Also, GRECO says that in the nearest future Ukraine will need
additional legislation on property that was acquired by criminal means.
GRECO expressed doubts about the National
Anti-Corruption Committee’s independence, drawing attention to the fact that
the institution is too closely connected to the president, who approves the
appointment of all its members. In addition, the Executive Secretary of the
Committee is also the secretary of the National Security and Defense of Ukraine
– another advisory institution under the President of Ukraine.
Established in 1999 by the Council of Europe, GRECO monitors states’
compliance with the organization of anti-corruption standards. Ukraine is a party to the Criminal Law
Convention on Corruption, so it automatically accedes to GRECO and its
evaluation procedures.
The methods of GRECO’s monitoring include an evaluation procedure leading to recommendations aimed at reforms and compliance procedures designed to assess the measurements
taken to implement the recommendations.
Ukraine hasn’t
been able to reach a majority of positive marks since GRECO first began
reporting on the country in 2007.
UDAR lawmaker Andriy Chumak who has drafted
several anti-corruption bills in parliament, said:
“Recommendations from GRECO have no validity and no obligations for Ukraine,
they only indicate how Ukraine should develop. At the same time, fulfilling
those recommendations are valued by the Council of Europe and could seriously
affect visa relations between Ukraine and the European Union”.
Chumak added that
there is no possibility of eliminating Ukraine from GRECO as long as Ukraine continues
working on anti-corruption measures and wants to become an EU member. The
anti-corruption lawmaker pointed out that without political will within the executive
branch of power, Ukraine won’t have future successes fighting corruption.
Kyiv Post intern
Taras Ivanyshyn can be reached at [email protected].
