The European Commission has worsened the assessment of Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms
фото: facebook Чернівецький обласний ТЦК та СП
In the new report of the European Commission on Ukraine’s integration into the EU, the assessment of anti-corruption reforms has worsened. If last year the assessment sounded like “some progress”, this year it was characterized as “limited progress”.
Pavlo Demchuk, Senior Legal Advisor at Transparency International Ukraine, talks about the consequences of such an assessment for Ukraine’s European integration in the article “No acceleration – no way. What to change so that corruption does not stop European integration.”
According to him, the current state of affairs signals a possible slowdown in Ukraine’s movement towards the EU due to the ineffective fight against corruption.
Demchuk emphasizes that recommendations that could increase the effectiveness of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) are largely ignored. In particular, they concern the possibility of autonomous wiretapping of suspects without the involvement of the SBU and problems with forensic examinations.
“Overburdened expert institutions and the risks of pressure or bribery of experts slow down the collection of evidence and affect the quality of investigations,” the author notes.
Another problem is the possibility of cases being closed due to the expiration of the pre-trial investigation period. “This norm allows suspects to avoid punishment if the indictment is sent to the court with a delay of only a few days,” Demchuk explains.
In addition, the expert notes a decrease in the number of indictments against corrupt officials coming from the National Police and the State Bureau of Investigation. “This is a worrying trend, indicating a decrease in the number of successfully completed investigations at the medium and low levels,” he adds.
As reported, the vast majority of Ukrainian citizens know about the so-called “Mindichgate” – a large-scale NABU investigation into corruption schemes involving businessman and co-owner of “Quarter 95” Timur Mindich, as well as a number of politicians, ministers, and top managers in the energy sector.
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