Combating corruption

The funds allegedly were stolen from the state in 2011-2014 and then placed to the offshore accounts of companies registered at Cyprus and BVI, which were controlled by the father of Mr. Klymenko. Afterwards, the funds were returned to Ukraine as “investments” to the UNISON group of companies, allegedly the key corporate structure of Klymenko dirty business empire. Within the course of criminal investigation PGO seized in June-July 2017 dozens of elite apartments in Kyiv, office buildings, houses, land plots and a thousand of railcars.  Prosecutor Matios also publicly urged Liechtenstein to cooperate with Ukrainian PGO in order to seize and recover assets of Klymenko placed abroad. Back on May 2017 PGO issued a notification of suspicion to Mr. Klymenko for participation in organized criminal group and abuse of power. AntAC is closely following the course of the investigation and, specifically, the situation with asset recovery perspectives of this case.  PGO claim...

The government that came to power in Ukraine after the 2014 revolution pledged to end corruption, and the EU also made progress on that front with it being a key condition for Ukrainians gaining visa-free travel in June. It has taken a long time, but the country’s ‘Anti-Corruption Bureau’ is now fully operational. It has just carried out an ambitious sting operation that caught at least one MP demanding huge bribes. But things did not turn out exactly as the Bureau had hoped… Watch our video. FRANCE 24's Ukraine correspondent Gulliver Cragg brings us this report, featuring hidden camera footage. Please note the order of this footage is not in chronological order for clarity purposes. You can find more details, complete with video extracts in chronological order, here. And if you can understand Russian and Ukrainian, there’s an even more extensive version here. A programme prepared by Patrick Lovett and Florence Viala.

Ukraine is losing its opportunity to demonstrate to the world the efficiency of its anti-corruption program. On the contrary, impunity of the top corrupt officials of the previous regime and political pressure on the newly developed anti-corruption institutions is a great concern for the international community. These conclusions were announced by the Chair of Transparency International, Jose Ugaz. 2016 was a year of fake promises and poor results in the sphere of anti-corruption, according to  Yaroslav Yurchyshyn , Executive Director in Transparency International Ukraine. This happened because a year before, during the meeting of the Chair of Transparency International Jose Ugaz and the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, and the newly appointed Prosecutor General Yurii Lutsenko, a lot of promises were made, including recovery of assets of the former president Yanukovych and his counterparts, facilitation of the independent performance of the anti-corruption institutions, ...

Such possibility was in the Draft law on Anti-corruption Bureau but after the final text of the Law went through the Presidential Administration the mention of President has gone. And that was the only compromise that allowed to gather the majority of votes for the law in the Parliament The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) could possibly be such authority but we are all witnessing how much effort the Government makes to stop its creation.  And it is – an illusory opportunity, because supervision – control over the investigation of the Bureau is also under the Prosecutor General’s Office. Now you understand why the PGO is so fundamental authority for the political stability of the presidential vertical. Before the creation of SBI such financial crimes are controlled should be investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office controlled by the President. This is called a vicious circle of corruption, controlled personally by the President Poroshenko. So, while Poroshenko ...

Ukraine’s new National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) may have netted its first big fish. The arrest of State Fiscal Service Head, Roman Nasirov on 2 March on suspicion of helping to embezzle 2 billion hryvnias ($75 million) suggests that Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms are breaking new ground. The Nasirov case is part of a wider battle for control of the anti-corruption agenda pitting an alliance of civil society organizations, reformist forces in parliament and Western governments against a group of entrenched interests in government, parliament and business. Ukraine’s leaders are the products of a system of institutionalized corruption based on state capture by a narrow group of wealthy individuals. Not surprisingly, they are reluctant to give up their control of the state’s economic resources. Nor are they willing to relinquish their hold over the law enforcement agencies or the politically dependent judiciary. As a result, they pay only lip service to the need to clamp...

With extensive support from the European Union, the Republic of Moldova has adopted a number of reforms in implementing the Association Agenda, but needs to undertake further efforts, in particular to improve the rule of law and the business environment. The details are highlighted in a joint report, released today by the European External Action Service and the European Commission ahead of the EU-Moldova Association Council on 31 March 2017. “The European Union and the Republic of Moldova have a strong relationship, reinforced through our joint Association Agreement that entered into force nine months ago”, said the High Representative/Vice-President, Federica Mogherini. “The Agreement has intensified our partnership, increasing our cooperation in some areas and consolidating it in others.  The Association Agenda details commitments undertaken by the Moldovan authorities, including fighting against corruption, improving the independence of the judiciary, de-politicising...

Nasirov, who is closely connected to president Poroshenko, is known for antagonizing reformers in the country. “He was attacking and undermining all possible attempts coming from reformers to change the tax administration and to tax the customs service,” explains Kalenyuk. Furthermore, Nasirov was protecting the traditional corrupt system of taxation in Ukraine, and of the Customs Service.