Prosecuting top officials accused of engaging in corruption is not “the task of the government,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said during a question and answer session at the Yalta European Strategy conference on Sept. 16.
“The task of the government is not criminal prosecution of somebody but to institutionally fight corruption,” Groysman said.
His response came after a question from BBC journalist Stephen Sackur, who has been moderating panels at the annual gathering.
Sackur grilled Groysman on some of the top issues surrounding corruption and rule of law that face Ukraine; issues that primarily fall under the responsibility of President Petro Poroshenko, although the prime minister has tremendous influence over police, prosecutors and courts through state budgeting and as head of the government.
Poroshenko has resisted the creation of an specialized anti-corruption court. Consequently, prosecutions of any high-level officials on corruption charges, in spite of the indictment of former Fiscal Service Chief Roman Nasirov and the detention of Rada Deputy Mykola Martynenko. Currently, Groysman said, hundreds of anti-corruption cases are stuck in Ukraine’s discredited, politically subservient courts.
Groysman pivoted to say that while the country has independent corruption-fighting institutions, in the form of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Special Anti-Prosecutor’s Office and the National Association for the Prevention of Corruption, but that it needs to create an independent, trustworthy court system.
Sackur then asked if the prime minister supports Poroshenko’s suggestion that the establishment of a specialized anti-corruption court could be indefinitely delayed.
“Call it what you want, if the system is dependent in the vetting process [for judges], it’s not going to work,” Groysman said, deflecting the question, before pointing to institutional changes that the government had achieved like the implementation of an electronic VAT refund system.
Groysman did say that he supports “the establishment of an anti-corruption court or an anti-corruption chamber. It’s extremely important for it to be done quickly and effectively.” He added that he would support an independent panel to help with the creation of the specialized court system.
But Groysman put his emphasis on progress in other areas, including the reduction in dependency on Russian energy supplies. He also listed education, pension and health-care reform — all aimed at improving the finances of each area and overhauling Soviet legacies — are realistic in the near future.
Sackur opened the question-and-answer session by asking Groysman if he’s too dependent on Poroshenko.
“People are exaggerating my dependency,” Groysman said, in response to a question of whether he was totally beholden to Poroshenko. “To say whose man I am, we should talk about values.”
‘Let society deal with it’
Groysman was also asked about former Odesa Governor Mikhail Saakashvili, who returned to Ukraine last week although Poroshenko rescinded the Ukrainian citizenship of the former Georgian president. Saakashvili has since embarked on a tour of Ukraine’s regions, which is set to culminate in his arrival in Kyiv next week.
Sackur asked Groysman point-blank whether he thought it was a mistake to revoke the citizenship. After a long pause, Groysman replied: “I did not see any fundamental success when Saakashvili was head of regional administration in Odessa.” He added: “This crazy populism is the reason for destabilization in this country.”
From there, Sackur pressed harder, asking what he, and his government, intended on doing about Saakashvili’s arrival.
“Nothing,” Groysman replied, again after a long pause in which some audience members started to laugh. “I don’t know what to do in such a situation.”
“Let society deal with it,” he added.
