Ukraine took 105th place in the Corruption Perceptions Index: the position of the NACP on this matter

Corruption remains one of the biggest threats to Ukraine’s development, slowing down economic progress, driving away international investors and undermining citizens’ trust in the authorities. Despite the creation of anti-corruption bodies, such as NABU, SAP, NAZK and VAKS, the situation does not show significant improvement. Transparency International researchers note that systemic corruption in Ukraine continues to exist due to the inevitability of punishment for officials, political pressure on anti-corruption institutions and the institutional weakness of law enforcement agencies.

Ukraine’s place in the Corruption Perceptions Index

Transparency International’s latest 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). showed, that Ukraine received 35 points out of a possible 100, losing one point compared to last year. Ukraine took the 105th place among 180 countries, and although the position itself has not changed significantly, the key thing is that the country is once again experiencing a reverse movement in the fight against corruption.

Transparency International Ukraine emphasizes that the current results indicate a formal approach to the implementation of many anti-corruption reforms or a deliberate slowing down of their implementation. They note that a certain “stagnation” in 2024 indicates that only the programmatic implementation of Ukraine’s obligations is not sufficient, because the quality of the implementation of reforms is lower than expected.

Among the negative trends, Transparency International analysts point to:

• sabotage of the implementation of the State anti-corruption program by some state bodies;
• attempts to pressure journalists and civil society;
• political influence in various spheres;
• corruption scandals with leaks in NABU;
• abuses in the process of rebuilding the country and public procurement.

The position of NAKC regarding the results of the study

In the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) noted, that the loss of one point in the rating of the Corruption Perception Index is not a critical change, but it indicates a number of challenges that require a systemic response. The agency’s specialists emphasize that it is the number of points received that is important, and not Ukraine’s place in the rating, as the latter also depends on changes in other countries.

Despite the negative trends, the NAZC emphasized that the following factors could have had a positive effect on the indicators of Ukraine for the past year:

• adoption of the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025;
• restoration of electronic declaration and reporting obligations for political parties;
• updating legislation on procurement in the Ministry of Defense;
• activation of NABU and SAP activities;
• increasing the number of verdicts in corruption cases.

NAZK believes that stagnation or decline in the Index is characteristic not only for Ukraine, but also for the entire region. In particular, among the candidate countries for joining the EU, only Moldova and Albania were able to improve their indicators.

“It is also worth considering that the assessment of Ukraine in the Transparency International rating is already taking place for the third time in the conditions of a full-scale war, which creates additional challenges and limitations for the effective functioning of anti-corruption mechanisms.

The Corruption Perceptions Index is the world’s best-known corruption assessment tool, which Transparency International has been measuring since 1995. It reflects not so much the real level of corruption as its perception by experts, representatives of authoritative analytical organizations and entrepreneurs. The objects of assessment include corrupt practices in the public sector, while domestic and business corruption are not taken into account.

Data from 13 international studies and surveys are used to calculate the Index, including the Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index, managers’ surveys from the World Economic Forum, etc. Eight of these studies were enough to calculate Ukraine’s result.

The index itself is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100 points, where 0 means that corruption is the main form of social relations and actually replaces state institutions, and 100 indicates its practical absence in the life of the country.”, – noted in NAZK.