Article 5.
Preventive anti-corruption policies and practices

The Anti-Corruption Strategy and The National Program for Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy (“National Program”)
The first strategic national anti-corruption policies appeared in Ukraine in 1997. Until 2013, they were approved by decrees of the President of Ukraine. In the period from 1997 to 2013, four of these documents were approved. Since 2014, along with the adoption of the Law On Prevention of Corruption, the mechanism of their development, adoption, and implementation has changed.

In 2014, the Parliament adopted the Strategy for 2014-2017. It became the first document of this type to be adopted at the legal level. Its adoption can be considered a significant step for the formation of Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy, as it had a positive impact on the formation of the state’s anti-corruption infrastructure for the next three years. This Strategy was almost entirely developed by the public, as the NACP had not yet been established at that time. After open discussions, the revised draft strategy was submitted by civil society organizations (CSOs) to the Government, which finalized it and registered it in Parliament. The National Programme was adopted in 2015 and was published immediately after its approval. The public was also actively involved in the development of the National Program. Both documents received positive reviews from Ukrainian and international experts.

After the expiry of the Strategy, the NACP and a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) presented their reports on its implementation. The data in these studies points to partial implementation of the State Program. While the NACP indicates that 64% of the envisaged measures have been implemented, civil society indicates that between 40% to 60% have been implemented. Reasons for this range from lack of political will to lack of resources of state agencies to implement it.

The process of developing the Strategy for 2020-2024 was highly discussed. As a result, the draft Strategy was significantly revised with the active participation of the public and the Parliament. The document received positive feedback from experts. Despite the relatively innovative approaches to the development of the Strategy for 2020-2024, the lack of political will prevented its prompt adoption and implementation. The formal reason for the delay, according to the public, was the lack of a unified position among political forces that were protecting their sectors from its influence. Sufficient motivation for the final adoption of the Anti-Corruption Strategy appeared only after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the changes that followed. The recommendation to join the European Union (“EU”) put the issue of anti-corruption reform in Ukraine at the top of the agenda, and the need for proper control over the large-scale funding that will be injected into the Ukrainian economy for its post-war reconstruction, made the adoption of the Strategy a priority.

On June 20, 2022, the relevant draft law was adopted, and on July 10, 2022, the Law of Ukraine On the Principles of State Anti-Corruption Policy for 2021-2025 entered into force. The expert community notes that the adoption of the Strategy is definitely a positive step, but at the same time points out that the new version contains some relaxations of anti-corruption measures, in particular in the law enforcement sector. The Strategy has undergone some amendments due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. In particular, the implementation of anti-corruption measures in the defense sector has been postponed until 30 days after the end of martial law, since reforming this sector during the war seems impossible.

To implement the Strategy, the NACP has developed the relevant State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025. It will be synchronized with the plans for the restoration of Ukraine after the war, the requirements for accession to the EU and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as the provisions of other strategic documents. The high rate of public involvement in the development of the State Program is encouraging. Nevertheless, the adoption of the State Program was delayed, resulting in public outcry. The State Program for 2023-2025 was finally approved on March 4, 2023.

Anti-corruption programs in public authorities, local governments and legal entities
Anti-corruption programs in public authorities and local governments cannot be considered sufficiently effective. Experts note that most of the programs do not work properly and do not perform their functions. There are several reasons for this, which include:

• A formal approach to the development and implementation of anti-corruption programs. Civil society believes that the assessment of corruption risks is superficial and does not take into account all the specifics of the work of the relevant body, institution or organization. In addition, some experts also point out that the NACP verifies anti-corruption programs in a rather superficial manner, only checking them for compliance with formal legislative requirements before approval.
• Insufficient level of qualification of employees responsible for the implementation of anti-corruption programs. The expert community points out that those responsible for the implementation of anti-corruption programs assess corruption risks superficially and irregularly due to a lack of understanding of the objectives and principles of such assessment. Often, employees perceive anti-corruption programs as an additional burden, nor realising the importance of this tool.
• Dependence of the implementation of anti-corruption programs on political will. Experts note that the actual effectiveness of the implementation of anti-corruption programs depends on the willingness of political leadership to implement certain measures and motivate those responsible for the implementation of the program.

The effectiveness of anti-corruption programs in private legal entities is difficult to assess. The public has no opportunity to monitor their implementation, and the NACP can do it only during inspections. However, as practice shows, the NACP does not conduct such inspections. For example, in 2020, the planned inspections concerned only state bodies and state-owned enterprises. The experts we interviewed note that the effectiveness of anti-corruption programs in private legal entities so far depends on the motivation of the management to implement and enforce it. Large companies, especially in the technology (IT) and agricultural sectors, mostly have both effective anti-corruption programs and effective compliance departments due to being export-oriented.

At the same time, the methodological support for developing anti-corruption programs, which the NACP provides, deserves a positive assessment. The NACP has adopted several documents that help the state bodies and private legal entities develop a good-quality and effective Anti-Corruption Program. The NACP also created an online course on “Anti-Corruption Programs of Authorities” for officials, members of the public and experts. The course has been completed by around 7,000 people to date.

Reporting on the implementation of the national anti-corruption policy
National reports are a convenient tool for accountability and transparency. They are a source of basic information about government activities in the anti-corruption sector. All draft National Reports for the period from 2016 to 2020 are published on the official NACP website. Each of the published documents generally meets the legal requirements for mandatory information. There is also a tendency for improvement of the quality of National Reports. At the same time, the volume of National Reports is extremely large (from 150 to 400 pages) which makes them difficult to access and read. One negative aspect is that not all draft National Reports are approved by the Cabinet, nor are all of them published on the website of the VRU. No parliamentary hearings have been held to discuss the implementation of the anti-corruption policy since 2018. The Parliament is not interested in this. This negatively affects the resolution of policy-related issues.

Ukraine’s interaction with international and regional organizations
Ukraine has been a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (MONEYVAL) since 1997. The mutual evaluation report (MER) of Ukraine was adopted in December 2017. Then, the organization conducted the first Enhanced Follow-up Report of Ukraine 2019 and the last Progress Report was conducted in September, 2020. It highlights the negative practice of blocking the work of the main agency responsible for anti-corruption policy – the NACP, as well as the lack of sustainability, consistency, and a strong institutional memory in terms of international anti-corruption monitoring mechanisms. International commitments undertaken as part of international anti-corruption treaties have to be taken into account in the anti-corruption strategy for a certain period, and the latter should be in line with the assessment cycle within a given conventional mechanism.

On January 21, 2004, Ukraine adopted the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan as part of the Anti-Corruption Network (ACN) for Eastern Europe and Central Asia program initiated by the OECD Working Group on Bribery. According to the latest ACN report published in 2020, the average score for Ukraine’s implementation of recommendations provided within the fourth assessment round constitutes 75%. The fifth round of monitoring started for Ukraine in 2021 and has been ongoing for two years. An updated Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and OECD was signed in 2022 and ratified by the VRU in February 2023. During the International Conference on Ukraine's Recovery in July 2022 in Lugano, Ukraine submitted an application for membership in the OECD. At the end of September 2022, the OECD Council decided to recognise Ukraine's status as a prospective member of the OECD and to start a dialogue on accession. As part of the initial transition, a separate OECD Programme for Ukraine was developed and agreed, which contains clearly structured multi-year work programmes.

Ukraine signed the Civil Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe in 1999 and became a member of The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in 2006 along with the entry into force of the Convention. Four rounds of GRECO evaluations of Ukraine have been completed, and the fifth round has not been launched yet. The results of the study show an improvement in anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine after each of the four rounds of GRECO evaluations.