Given the low efficiency of Ukrainian government agencies, many are concerned when they hear of high salaries for officials.
In December the Cabinet increased Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka’s monthly salary from Hr 37,000 ($1,535) to Hr 93,648 ($3,885).
Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk received Hr 76,000 ($3,152) in December. His Cabinet said on Jan. 15 it would raise salaries for all top officials, and Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov said on Jan. 14 that Verkhovna Rada members’ salaries would increase in line with inflation.
This triggered a major debate on social media. While some argued that high salaries for government officials were unacceptable in one of Europe’s poorest countries, others said that high salaries were necessary as a disincentive against corruption.
In fact, it’s a false dichotomy. It is true that well-paid officials are – in theory – less inclined to take bribes. It is also true that officials with ridiculously small wages – like some in Ukraine – often don’t take their official income seriously because they got their jobs in order to take bribes.
However, large salaries for government officials can prevent corruption only if there is a functioning law enforcement system that convicts corrupt officials. So far, no top officials have been jailed in Ukraine for corruption.
High wages will also work if officials have less power over businesses and fewer opportunities to take bribes: no overregulation and no red tape. But now Ukraine ranks the worst in Europe in terms of economic freedom, with its economic growth stifled by a bloated Soviet-style bureaucracy.
As a result, even officials with high salaries will be prone to corruption because they have too much power and no fear of going to jail. Thus Ukrainian taxpayers will pay for them twice: both officially and unofficially.
