Blog: The path to EU membership: how Ukraine implements the ‘fight against corruption’ agenda

On 23 June 2022, the European Council granted EU candidate status to Ukraine, opening the next stage of Ukraine’s European integration process. Based on the European Commission’s Opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union, Ukraine was provided with a list of conditions, which need to be fulfilled in order to successfully continue the integration procedure.

Among others, these conditions paid detailed attention to the ongoing anti-corruption reform in Ukraine, namely, the institutional improvements within the system of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine. Almost one year on, what are the latest steps taken by the Ukrainian government towards implementing the European Commission’s conditions in the fight against corruption.

Background

The Revolution of Dignity of 2014, in addition to confirming the European choice of the Ukrainian people, also set the foundation for the fight against corruption as a widespread issue within the Ukrainian government. During the following years, a number of anti-corruption institutions were established, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Asset Recovery and Management Agency, the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption and the High Anti-Corruption Court. The establishment of these institutions was accompanied by the judicial reform in 2016, which aimed to improve the judicial system in Ukraine, creating the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine to ensure a competitive selection process of judges.

Over the years, the anti-corruption reform delivered decent results in the fight against  corruption on the state level. In particular, the achievements of the reform were praised by the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas and the Head of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative Allan Pagh Kristensen during the conference “Seven Years of Anti-Corruption Reform”, which was held in 2021.

However, as is clear from the European Commission’s Opinion on Ukraine’s candidacy, there is still space for improvement in this field. In particular, the Commission required Ukraine to appoint the head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, launch and complete the selection of a new director for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and demonstrate a “credible track record of prosecutions and convictions”. 

1. Appointment of a new head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office

The Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter SAPO) was established in 2015 as a supervising body over the cases investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and is responsible for the public prosecution of corruption cases in court trials. For more than two years, since 2020 when the initially selected head of SAPO resigned from the office, and until June 2022 when the European Commission issued its Opinion on Ukraine’s application for EU membership, the Ukrainian government failed to finalise the competition for the selection of the new head of SAPO. Having selected the two candidates with the highest assessment results, the competition commission could not approve the candidate for this position due to various organisational reasons. The absence of the appointed Head of SAPO negatively influenced the independence of SAPO and the effectiveness of the investigation of corruption cases. Finally, after two years of the competition, which lasted since 2020, a new head of SAPO was appointed thereby meeting one of the European integration requirements assigned by the European Commission.

2. The selection process and appointment of a new Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (hereinafter NABU) is a law-enforcement agency that investigates corruption offences committed by high-ranking public officials. Upon its establishment in 2015, the first director of NABU was appointed for a 7-year term.  After the expiry of his term in April 2022, the position of the NABU director remained vacant and the director’s duties had to be fulfilled by the deputy director until the selection of the new head of this agency.

Following the European Commission’s requirements, the special commission for selecting the NABU director, consisting of three Ukrainian and three international experts, opened a call for applications to apply for this position in autumn 2022. The active phase of the competition lasted during January – March 2023, and included tests on the knowledge of the legislation as well as the general skills and abilities of the applicants, evaluation of their personal competencies, solving practical cases and interviews to evaluate integrity and professional experience of the candidates.

Out of 78 applicants who applied for the position of NABU director, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed Semen Kryvonos as the new head of this agency.

3. Track record of prosecutions and convictions in corruption cases

Unlike other requirements assigned to the Ukrainian government, demonstrating a credible track record of prosecutions and convictions in corruption cases is a long-lasting task that can not be implemented instantly. An effective investigation and prosecution takes a long time due to the latent nature of corruption offences, which requires a thorough investigation, and a time-consuming procedure during the court trial.

However, even in these difficult times for Ukraine, the Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies continue their work to combat corruption. According to the semi-annual report prepared by NABU regarding the statistics of investigations in the second half of 2022, the NABU and SAPO opened investigations on 293 cases of corruption offences,149 people were accused of committing such offences, and 34 indictments were sent to the court with 68 people being indicted in court trials. In January 2023, fifteen senior officials of the Ukrainian government who were involved in corruption scandals were dismissed from office, which once again demonstrates the desire of the government to fight corruption and promote zero tolerance for this negative issue.

Looking at the steps taken by the Ukrainian government, it should be summarised that most of the requirements have been fulfilled with room for further improvements. There are certain difficulties that arise during the fight against corruption ranging from the latent nature of corruption offences to the organisational issues within the public administration, which pose corruption risks. With the goal of combattings these risks, the government, namely the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption, issued the National Anti-Corruption Strategy that defines the main issues in the field of fight against corruption and sets the strategic goals that have to be reached until 2025 in order to solve them. In March 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the National Anti-Corruption Programme, an essential policy-making document for successful execution of the Anti-Corruption Strategy. With these measures being taken and having demonstrated the desire to join the EU, the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people are awaiting the next stage of the European integration process.