Corruption Under the Radar: Ukraine Tries To Appease The West

In a startling revelation that underscores the persistent struggles against deep-rooted corruption in Ukraine, the imminent approval of a bill by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy threatens to expunge the names of over 35,000 individuals from the register of corrupt officials. This sweeping move, hailed as a measure to improve the accountability process, or maybe to appease Western concerns has sparked a maelstrom of controversy and dissent, with voices of alarm echoing from the corridors of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP).

Oleksandr Novikov, the head of the NACP, sounded the alarm on this perilous legislative shift, emphasizing the potential jeopardy it poses to the integrity of the state. “It actually removes from our register persons who have committed corruption-related offenses, including about 12,000 people convicted of corruption offenses,” Novikov expressed with deep concern in a recent interview with Radio Svoboda.

The bill, ominously titled “On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses and Other Laws on Improving the Procedure for Holding Individuals Accountable,” hangs in the balance, awaiting the president’s signature. If enacted, it would release a substantial cohort of individuals back into the fold of public functions, granting them access to critical sectors like public procurement—a decision fraught with the risk of resuscitating the very corruption that the nation has tirelessly sought to dismantle.

The scale of corruption within the Ukrainian bureaucracy is made even more stark by the NACP’s own records, which reveal that the existing register houses a staggering 45,000 individuals entangled in a web of corruption or corruption-related crimes. Among this cohort, a concerning 12,000 have already faced conviction for their misdeeds, while an additional 25,000 and 2,000 individuals have been subjected to administrative and disciplinary actions respectively for their roles in perpetuating corruption.

Novikov elucidated the possible aftermath of this bill’s enforcement, predicting that merely 10,000 would remain on the register, leaving a disconcerting number of 35,000, including 10,000 convicted corrupt officials, to fade into obscurity, unaccounted for and unrestrained.

Established in 2015 as a beacon of hope in the battle against corruption, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention now faces a pivotal test of its commitment to transparency and accountability. As the online register of corrupt officials remains accessible to the public, the stakes have never been higher for a nation grappling with the persistent specter of graft and malfeasance. Ukraine’s journey toward lasting integrity and transparency stands on the precipice, at the mercy of the decisions that will either fortify or further erode the fight against corruption.