You're reading: Yanukovych vows to put an end to corruption

A decree on a national anti-corruption strategy will be signed soon, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said.

"For those who haven’t yet got it, I say again – Ukraine has launched a large-scale anti-corruption campaign, and the National Anti-Corruption Committee is already operating. I’ll soon issue a decree approving the national anti-corruption strategy, which has to be implemented both at the central and regional levels," he said at a meeting of the Council of the Regions in Kyiv on Thursday.

While speaking about corruption among government officials, Yanukovych said integrity was a necessary feature for state employees.

"We cannot allow those who are turning public service into a feeding trough and destroying trust in the state to come to power. Everyone should realize that we’ll put an end to this forever," Yanukovych said.

He said that about 4,000 criminal cases opened on official crimes had been sent to the courts.

"The issue concerns bribery, where the amount is a figure with many zeros," Yanukovych said.