There is a lot of bad karma around this whole anti-corruption gig. Let me make a positive contribution providing a solution.

Message to the International Monetary Fund, European Union, World Bank, nongovernmental organizations: Look, let’s face it, Ukraine is endemically/systemically corrupt. No one could survive in Ukraine without playing to the former rules – think petty and elite corruption. I am not blaming anyone but that’s the way it was/is. Not sure I would be any different in such a setting.

The anti-corruption court is a great idea. Ukraine needs it. But Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas and the Verkhovna Rada is never going to vote to create a truly independent anti-corruption court if that does logically mean they all go to jail for past misdemeanors – and I am sure there are plenty of them. That means loads of time is going to be wasted and a game played out with elites pretending they are serious about creating institutions without doing anything which has any effect or changes behavior. The reality is they are not. They are terrified by the prospect. And, in the end, you should care about changing behavior now, and in the future.

So here is my solution – remember my idea two years back of the Maidan Truth and Reconciliation Commission and windfall tax idea? Let’s combine that with the e-declarations and anti-corruption court idea.

Here how it works: On the back of e-declarations, impose a 10 percent one-off tax on all assets declared. You pay it and you are free from future prosecution for historical claims. But your declaration has to be honest. If it turns out you lied, the book is thrown at you — 100 percent tax on assets, seven years in a really bad jail. But then the anti-corruption court only takes future cases and again the penalties have to be brutally harsh, 100 percent confiscation and serious jail time.

The amnesty for asset declarations does not apply where non-financial wrongdoing is proven – e.g. where physical violence has been used.

The windfall tax should be used to fund a proper judicial system where judges/prosecutors/police get decent salaries and don’t have to resort to bribes.

Let’s assume 5 percent of gross domestic product has disappeared annually in graft on average GDP of $100 billion over 25 years and a 10 percent windfall tax we get to $12.5 billion in windfall tax revenue. I would take that – that would fund the criminal justice system for a few years until lower corruption kicks in, informality reduces, the tax take increases as the economy grows. Bingo.

You could make this more palatable at the lower end by having a minimum threshold for being subject to the windfall tax, say $50,000.

And let’s encourage everyone to get on with it. So sign up to this deal and the next International Monetary Fund tranche gets freed up. That also kickstarts the World Bank and European Union money – adding up to $3 billion at least in a first installment. Markets love it, credit spreads crash 100 basis points tighter, you come to market, do an exchange offer to get rid of the last bits of the debt service peak in 2019-20, and even get enough new money to retire those dreadful GDP warrants. Everyone is happy.

I am a simple man and prefer simple solutions. Anyone who has met me knows that.

Alternatively we can try the Saudi Arabia approach, block off 200 rooms at the Premier Palace (some irony there given so many deals were surely “crafted” in the lobby bar there over the years) and have a Forbes Top 200 Ukraine pajama party there for a few weeks and until the caviar and Perrier (or more likely Borjami) runs out.