Those two events highlighted just how corrupt and wasteful state procurements have been in Ukraine. Up to a third of the nation’s $30 billion (Hr 370 billion) national budget has been lost to corruption in the past years.

But parliament’s struggle to find a bare 226-majority – after a first vote that failed – shows how rigid the system is, and how difficult it will be to uproot it, even with the best of intentions. The law was sabotaged by the former ruling Party of Regions, the Communists and independent deputies; in other words, by those political forces that benefited the most from the system in place.

Fortunately, we see progress in anti-corruption investigations. On April 9, Deputy General Prosecutor Mykola Holomsha said 14 financial institutions were uncovered to have laundered Hr 140 billion, for example. 

The support of pro-Russian separatism in eastern parts of Ukraine is also triggered by the desire corrupt politicians to keep the same rotten system in place. Those who used to run the little fiefdoms want to continue doing so, and they need to promote federalization to achieve this goal.
Resistance to change has been fierce.

Prosecutor Holomsha has said that many law enforcers cover up  massive corruption. One case in point in an illegal gambling network in Dnipropetrovsk uncovered on April 10. It was protected by a senior law enforcer who stayed in his job after the government changed on Feb. 22.

Moreover, new dubious appointments are being made, such as Russia’s Andrei Volkov, formerly affiliated with AlfaBank, as head of the National Commission on Financial Services, a banking and financial egulator notorious for corruption.

There are still scores of corruption cases to be investigated left in the wake of Viktor Yanukovych’s ruinous rule. Every sphere of life needs a decisive cleanup. The approval of a law requiring transparent state procurements is a good first step.