When 100,000 public servants filed their online income and asset declarations on Oct. 30, it became clear why lawmakers have been trying so hard to sabotage the declaration process.

Ukrainians knew that their top officials were wealthy. Now they have a better idea, although much more is likely hidden. The 413 parliament members alone hold some $470 million in a country with an average yearly salary of just $3,178. Most of it probably was dishonestly earned and untaxed, we would guess.

Ukraine’s rulers hate banks and the hryvnia. They prefer hard cash and store savings in dollars. Even National Bank of Ukraine Governor Valeria Gontareva keeps just 0.13 percent of her savings in the national currency – she has Hr 60,000 and $1.8 million.

The taste for cash shows officials living in fear. Bank accounts can be frozen, but cash is fungible. Just ask ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. He needed trucks to move his possessions as he fled his Mezhyhirya mansion in 2014.
Lawmakers who haven’t been in the private sector for decades, like the Opposition Bloc’s Serhiy Lyovochkin, declared offshore companies and savings worthy of Hollywood stars.

Others, like 27-year-old Andriy Lozoviy from the Radical Party, declared cash that doesn’t match income and luxury items that they say are gifts. There is a strong passion for watches, Breguet and Ulysse Nardin.

But Ukrainians should focus on getting anti-corruption bodies to follow up on the declarations and investigate officials who are too rich for their income or too poor on paper for their lifestyle. Without that, the e-declarations will be nothing more than an annual show – very entertaining, but useless.

More importantly, Ukraine needs to cut out the corrupt schemes that foster bribes that led to the likely untaxed fortunes. To do that, Ukraine needs to reduce the size of and scope of government in the national economy and create a functioning law enforcement system. Otherwise, the country will keep bleeding money on a scale that more loans from international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, and donor governments will not be able to fix.