Ukraine has lagged seven years behind other CIS states in founding such an important organization. According to the draft statute, the association will unite scientists and practitioners working professionally in studying and preventing crime: from those studying the shadow economy to those dealing with psychopaths.
The public relations department of the Internal Affairs Ministry reported that twelve people are murdered in Ukraine every day. Last year 4529 people were killed. According to the Internal Affairs Minister Yuri Kravchenko, the shadow economy’s turnover exceeds $10 billion.
According to official information, the crime level is decreasing in Ukraine: in 1996 it fell 3.8% and in 1997 — 4.5%. Inna Turkevych, a docent in the Criminal Law and Criminology Department of Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, said this data is rather dubious because so far we have yet to see any positive change. Commenting on the scientists’ statement, Kravchenko told The Day, “This is only the scientists’ viewpoint. There also is the objective situation estimated by the State Prosecutor’s Office. There are various approaches to bringing up charges. Statistics are not objective and thus people will always be able to use them any way they want.”
This organization has not yet been formally registered, but it has been approved by Ukrainian jurists and criminologists.






