Corruption is invincible: the existence of a strong state and civil society is under threat

On June 20, the Verkhovna Rada in the second reading adopted the draft law on restarting the Bureau of Economic Security, which provides for mandatory re-certification of employees, and also establishes that international partners will have a decisive vote in the selection and re-certification of employees. The draft law also specifies that the new head of the BEB should be elected by a commission of six members, half of whom should be international experts with the right to vote.

The day before, the Anti-Corruption Center reported that the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy approved for the second reading the text of draft law No. 10439 on restarting the Bureau of Economic Security, which was not coordinated with international partners. The final text of the draft law did not take into account the norms and amendments that ensure the independent composition of attestation and personnel commissions. In addition, the version of the draft law previously approved by the specialized committee did not provide for the inclusion of experts from international partners in the personnel commissions that select new BEB employees, which created prerequisites for political bargaining with the winners before the appointment.

It should be noted that the BEB reform is a requirement of the financing program from the International Monetary Fund, as well as the Ukraine Facility program from the European Union and direct budget support from the United States of America. The previous intention of refusing to include independent experts from partners in the attestation commissions was regarded as ignoring the requirements of European partners.

However, everything ended, so to speak, successfully – the draft law was adopted in the form that suits foreign partners. But their controlling participation in the activities of the BEB once again emphasizes the lack of trust in our officials in the fight against corruption in Ukraine and the personnel appointments of anti-corruption officers. And this has completely understandable reasons.

The position of foreign countries and the response of Ukrainian officials

“Ukrainian officials insist they are actively fighting corruption, but Western governments, including the United States, say it’s still not enough — a source of growing tension between Kyiv and some of its strongest supporters, posing a constant threat to additional economic and military aid”, – this position has been repeatedly voiced by foreign high-ranking officials.

In addition, they and foreign mass media cite examples known to us:

“Almost every month, a new case is added to the series of high-profile arrests and dismissals. At the end of May, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine charged Andriy Smirnov, former deputy head of the Presidential Administration, with illegal enrichment, which alleged that he purchased real estate, vehicles and other assets worth more than 10 times. However, the High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for him in the form of a 10 million hryvnias bail.

In April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi fired Ilya Vityuk, head of the SBU’s cyber security department, a few days after the media reported that his wife had bought an apartment for more than $500,000 in an elite area of ​​Kyiv.

During the past year, the chief judge of the country, Vsevolod Knyazev, was charged with receiving more than $2 million in bribes, for which he was dismissed. Moreover, Knyazev visited Washington a few weeks before his arrest and was presented by Ukrainian officials as a “pillar of decency.

Ukrainian officials say these cases are evidence of a concerted and successful anti-bribery effort. But all the accused claim their innocence, their cases have not yet reached the court.”

In turn, Oleksandr Klymenko, the head of the special anti-corruption unit at the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, states:

“The fact that the number of cases has doubled does not mean that corruption has doubled. On the contrary: it means that we are twice as efficient as before.”

However, Western politicians and experts are not so sure about such statements. They say that billions are at stake in Ukraine’s fight against corruption – not only the country’s own tax money, but also Western military and economic aid. While there have been no direct allegations of mishandling or misappropriation of international aid and weapons, Republican members of Congress have cited corruption concerns as among the main reasons behind the $61 billion aid package, a months-long delay that has allowed Russian troops to advance further into Ukraine.

Members of Congress believe that corruption has flourished in Ukraine for decades. Oligarchs control key industries and seats in parliament. Civil servants, including judges, were put up for sale. But many Ukrainian officials say that the country has made great strides in recent years and is not getting enough credit.

The special anti-corruption unit in the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, NABU, SAP, DBR, BEB, the High Anti-Corruption Court, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, which formulates anti-corruption policy, and the special anti-corruption department in the Ministry of Defense — all these bodies were created to fight with corruption, but corruption flourishes in the state. US officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, say the fight against corruption is not being done enough.

“Ukraine has taken important steps, but much more needs to be done.” Blinken said in Kyiv last month during his visit.

In his speech, he said that Ukraine needs a “strong and predictable regulatory environment; open and fair competition; transparency; Rule of Law; effective anti-corruption measures”.

“Victory on the battlefield will prevent Ukraine from becoming part of Russia. Victory in the war against corruption will allow Ukraine not to become like Russia.” Blinken emphasized.

At the same time, Ukrainian senior officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, defend themselves from reproaches.

“We have an idea about the level of corruption and we have facts about the level of corruption”, Kuleba said at a press conference with Blinken.

It should be noted that the meeting between Zelenskyi and Blinken was tense, with the Ukrainian leader expressing his gratitude for U.S. military aid but appearing frustrated by Blinken’s focus on corruption, according to people familiar with the discussion, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Many officials say privately that while corruption remains a problem, anti-corruption efforts will distract from what they believe should be the main goal: defeating Russia. This is reported by the BBC.

“Senior Ukrainian officials complain that Americans and Europeans often use the stereotype of a corrupt Ukraine as an excuse to delay or oppose vital aid — and that the accusation is not only a cliché, but also evidence of the hypocrisy in capitals of their own corruption problems.

This is completely unfair. We always want to say: “Why are you lecturing us? We see that your prime minister was convicted of corruption.” — said Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, who supervises Ukraine in the EU.

Stefanishyna said that she does not have a specific country in mind, but the events of the last two years provide several examples. The leaders of Portugal and Spain, as well as officials of the European Parliament, are accused of corruption.

After Western officials urged Ukraine to introduce tougher anti-corruption rules, Stefanyshyn drew attention to a report last year that the top EU official, Gert Jan Koopman, had owned a luxury hotel in Bali since 2009.

That is, instead of contributing to the fight against corruption, the curator of Ukraine in the EU took the position of “the fool himself.”

In addition, Olha Savran, manager of the anti-corruption network of the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that some of Ukraine’s harshest critics are expressing “politicized disinformation.”

“There is great progress in the fight against corruption in Ukraine. However, corruption remains a major problem in Ukraine’s “power structure,” which is still based “on oligarchic control and corruption at the highest level, and this trickles down to all other levels.”

Therefore, Ukrainian officials note that in the fight against corruption, they strive to meet the standards of the rule of law necessary for joining the European Union. However, they cannot afford to ignore the complaints of foreign states, no matter how “unfair” they consider them. The main thing in this should be a successful result, but it is still not there.

Ukrainians about corruption

Judicial reform is the “cornerstone” of the fight against corruption. — believes Daria Kaleniuk, head of the Anti-Corruption Center, one of the main corruption monitors in Ukraine.

“If judges are corrupt, society is lawless and it is easy to lean towards autocracy.” — said public activist, journalist and lawyer, co-founder and executive director of the Kyiv Anti-Corruption Center Daria Kaleniuk.

All statements cannot be conveyed in one article, but they are approximately the same.

The greatest pressure to eradicate corruption comes not from the West, but from Ukrainians. Public outrage over election fraud and government corruption sparked two revolutions in the country, and in 2019, similar anger led to Zelenskyi’s election victory after promising to root out corruption.

Five years have passed… According to the majority of Ukrainians, the biggest threat to Ukraine’s development is corruption in public authorities. Surveys conducted on February 17-21, 2024 by the sociological group “Rating” on behalf of the Center for Analysis and Sociological Research of the International Republican Institute showed that Ukrainians consider corruption to be the biggest threat to the country, rather than Russian aggression. Thus, 51% of citizens polled by sociologists consider corruption to be the greatest threat to Ukraine, and 46% consider Russia’s military aggression.

And so far, the endless corruption scandals continue, and there is no accountability for them. On June 19, NABU and SAP reported another scandal over the failure to disclose a record-breaking corruption scheme for Ukraine. According to the investigation, the former head of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Roman Nasirov, together with his accomplices illegally laundered 21 million euros. Criminal proceedings have already been instituted against this exhibitor several times, since October 31, 2022, Nasirov has been in custody. However, in May of this year, a deposit of more than 55 million hryvnias was made for him.

The Scheme investigations project reported in May that Deputy Prosecutor General Dmytro Verbytskyi lives in the elite Kyiv cottage town of Konyk, where his nephew bought a house for over 2 million hryvnias on behalf of an Odesa businessman. This price is 6 times lower than the market price.

On June 11, journalists reported that Verbytskyi’s girlfriend became the owner of an estate worth 48 million hryvnias in Kyiv and a Porsche worth $100,000. In May of this year, she bought a house in the elite town of Konyk, for which she paid 24 times less than the market price. However, it is planned to conduct an official investigation against Verbytskyi only after a wide public outcry, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced. It is not difficult to guess how it will end.

Corruption creates its own system of values ​​and its own hierarchy, and as long as it is invincible, as long as there is an imitation of fighting it, the existence of a strong state and a strong civil society is impossible.