Anti-Corruption Reforms in Ukraine 4Th Round of Monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan
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Fighting Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine 4th round of monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan OECD ANTI-CORRUPTION NETWORK FOR EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA Anti-Corruption Reforms in UKRAINE Fourth Round of Monitoring of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan 2017 About the OECD The OECD is a forum in which governments compare and exchange policy experiences, identify good practices in light of emerging challenges, and promote decisions and recommendations to produce better policies for better lives. The OECD’s mission is to promote policies that improve economic and social well-being of people around the world. Find out more at www.oecd.org. About the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Established in 1998, the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) supports its member countries in their efforts to prevent and fight corruption. It provides a regional forum for the promotion of anti-corruption activities, the exchange of information, elaboration of best practices and donor coordination via regional meetings and seminars, peer-learning programmes, and thematic projects. ACN also serves as the home for the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP). Find out more at www.oecd.org/corruption/acn/. About the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan is a sub-regional peer-review programme launched in 2003 in the framework of the ACN. It supports anti-corruption reforms in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan through country reviews and continuous monitoring of participating countries’ implementation of recommendations to assist in the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and other international standards and best practice. Find out more at www.oecd.org/corruption/acn/istanbulactionplan/. This report was adopted at the ACN meeting on 13 September 2017 at the OECD in Paris. This report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. © OECD 2017 2 Table of Contents ACRONYMS 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 SUMMARY OF COMPLIANCE RATINGS 13 INTRODUCTION 15 Chapter I: Anti-Corruption Policy 17 1.1. Key anti-corruption reforms and corruption trends 17 1.2. Impact of anti-corruption policy implementation 21 1.3. Public awareness and education in anti-corruption 30 Chapter II: Prevention of Corruption 42 2.1. Integrity in the civil service 42 2.2. Integrity of political public officials 72 2.3. Integrity in the judiciary and public prosecution service 76 Judiciary 76 Public prosecution service 89 2.4. Accountability and transparency in the public sector 99 2.5. Integrity in public procurement 110 2.6. Business integrity 120 Chapter III: Enforcement of Criminal Responsibility for Corruption 127 3.1. Criminal law against corruption 127 3.2. Procedures for investigation and prosecution of corruption offences 140 3.3. Enforcement of corruption offences 148 3.4. Anti-corruption criminal justice bodies 152 ANNEX. FOURTH MONITORING ROUND RECOMMENDATIONS TO UKRAINE 158 3 ACRONYMS ACN Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia AMC Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine AntAC NGO Anti-Corruption Action Center ARMA Asset Recovery and Management Agency AUCP All Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors BOC Business Ombudsman Council of Ukraine CC Criminal Code CMU Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine CoE Council of Europe CoST Construction SectorTransparency Initiative CPC Criminal Procedure Code CPI Corruption Perception Index CPL Law on Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine CSL Law on Civil Service of Ukraine EBRD European Bank of Reconstruction and Development EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative EU European Union FATF Financial Action Task Force FMS Financial Monitoring Service FIU Financial Monitoring Unit FOI Freedom of information GCB Global Corruption Barometer of Transparency International GPA Agreement on Government Procurement GPO General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine GRECO Group of States against Corruption HCJ High Council of Justice HQCJ High Qualifications Commission of Judges HRMIS Human Resources Management Information System HRM Human Resources Management IAP Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan IMF International Monetary Fund IRM Independent Reporting Mechanism of the OGP IT Information technologies LAP Law on Administrative Procedures MEDT Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine MLA Mutual Legal Assistance MOJ Ministry of Justice of Ukraine MoU Memorandum of understanding MP Member of Parliament NABU National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine NACP National Agency on Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine NACS National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization 4 NGO Non-governmental organisation NIS National Integrity System OGP Open Government Partnership OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PG Prosecutor General of Ukraine PPL Law on Public Procurement QDC Qualifications and Disciplinary Commission RPR NGO Coalition of Ukraine, Reanimation Package of Reforms RTI Global Right to Information Rating SAPO Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office SFS State Fiscal Service of Ukraine SIGMA Support for Improvement in Governance and Management, OECD/EU joint initiative State 2015-2017 State Programme for the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy Programme SOE State-owned enterprise TI Transparency International UAH Ukrainian Hryvnia Ukravtodor Ukrenergo UNIC Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance UNODC United National Office on Drugs and Crime USAID United States Agency for International Development USR United State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs of Ukraine Verkhovna The Parliament of Ukraine Rada WEF World Economic Forum WTO World Trade Organisation 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report analyses progress made by Ukraine in carrying out anti-corruption reforms and implementing recommendations of the IAP since the adoption of the Third Monitoring Round report in March 2015. The report focuses on three areas: anti-corruption policy, prevention of corruption, enforcement of criminal responsibility for corruption. The in-depth review of the sector will be conducted separately through a bis- procedure and is not part of the adopted report. This report comes in a very volatile time for Ukraine, which still has a long way to go in terms of establishing functioning democratic anti-corruption institutions and actions and there are serious signs that it is in danger of backsliding into the kleptocracy that it was despite many substantial positive steps since the Revolution of Dignity. The report attempts to do both: point out the achievements and areas of potential risk of regress. ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICY Anti-corruption reforms After the Revolution of Dignity largely instigated by endemic corruption, Ukraine adopted a comprehensive anti-corruption package of laws and established new specialised institutions: NABU, SAPO, NACP and ARMA. Ukraine also achieved unprecedented level of transparency, inter alia, by introducing the electronic asset disclosure, e-procurement, opening up the public registries and making a number of datasets publicly available in open data format. Civil society continues to play a significant role in pushing the reforms forward and the international community supports Ukraine’s anti-corruption fight. The formation of the legislative, policy and institutional foundations for fighting and preventing corruption and putting in place various transparency initiatives are the main accomplishments in Ukraine since the last monitoring round. Despite the achievements, the level of corruption remains very high. Anti-corruption enforcement, particularly against the high-level officials, is stalling and meets enormous resistance and the public trust to the Government has further decreased in recent years. Yet, the most pressing challenge for Ukraine now is ensuring the sustainability of the institutional framework and boosting anti-corruption efforts, that are being constantly undermined by the governing elite. The recent measures aimed at discouraging the anti- corruption activism are alarming and must be stopped urgently. Enabling environment for open and full participation of civil society in anti-corruption policy development and monitoring must be ensured. Ukraine has not yet firmly established itself on its path of steady anti-corruption reforms, but is certainly on a right trail. However, the political will of the Government to genuinely fight corruption is seriously questioned. Resilience, persistency and full determination of the anti-corruption fight of the Ukrainian society at large will be critical in the coming years. Time has long come for Ukraine to take decisive steps to root-out pervasive corruption. Anti-corruption policy The State Programme for implementation of the anti-corruption strategy adopted with CSO participation is a sound policy document. It does not have a separate budget, but the anti-corruption institutions have substantial budgetary