The new prosecutor general has achieved nothing so far

Ukraine is among the most corruption-prone countries, according to the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index 2014, which is calculated by the Transparency International NGO. Ukraine is ranked 142nd out of 175 positions in it, as it got 20 points out of 100. More than two-thirds of the 175 countries in the Index scored less than 50 points. The least corrupt country in the world is Denmark with 92 points, followed by New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Russia is 136th, while the highest level of bribery was recorded in Afghanistan, the Sudan, the DPRK, and Somalia.

“Once again, Ukraine shares its position with Uganda and the Comoros as one of the most corrupt countries in the world,” the organization’s statement reads. These results, according to the international anti-corruption community, have been brought by lack of visible progress in the destruction of corrupt schemes we have inherited from all the regimes that ruled the country since Ukraine’s independence. Indeed, despite some external changes, Ukraine still struggles to get moving. The recently adopted laws have not yet brought tangible results in the anti-corruption struggle.

“The anti-corruption laws enacted on October 14, 2014 have laid just the groundwork, the foundation for change. What the real reform will be, we will see soon as the events unfold, as soon even as this December. The new Cabinet together with the new parliament should design the budget for 2015. We still do not know whether there will be money in it for the Anti-Corruption Bureau or a comprehensive electronic database of officials’ tax declarations,” executive director of the Transparency International’s Ukrainian bureau Oleksii Khmara said. In his view, the situation can be rectified only through transparent recruitment of personnel for new anti-corruption bodies, punishment of all those involved in corruption schemes, and non-interference with the anti-corruption fight.

Why there has been no progress in fighting corruption in the year since the Euromaidan? Are changes likely now? The Day put these questions to executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Daria KALENIUK:

“The index assesses the perception of corruption by population of a country and takes into account data from other rankings as well. Therefore, its data show, first, that most Ukrainians do not perceive that any positive changes are happening. Why? We have the anti-corruption laws adopted, but that is just the beginning of the anti-corruption reform, the tools for it. The reform itself will depend on whether we will get a truly independent Anti-Corruption Bureau, free of control by the president as well as the Cabinet and the parliament. If its chief is able to organize the work of their subordinates so that they will bring cases against corrupt ministers and their deputies to the courts, Ukraine will rise by a few dozen positions in the index. Currently, people do not feel that a real fight against corruption is waged, as they see no high-profile cases launched. There was not enough political will in the past year for it to turn into a real fight against corruption. There was no mass attack on corruption in high places by relevant authorities, even though we have such authorities in the offices of prosecutor general and subordinate prosecutors. I have serious doubts that the government will create the Anti-Corruption Bureau on time. We have had the president, the parliament, and the Cabinet elected/confirmed, but the commission tasked with holding competition for the position of chair of the Anti-Corruption Bureau has not yet been created. Why? The bureau should start working on January 24, 2015, but its formation has not even begun yet. We are already running late on the creation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and chances are that it will not be launched on time.”