The vast majority of Ukrainian business representatives have a negative attitude to corruption and approve of the activities of corruption whistleblowers.
This is evidenced by the data of the sociological survey "Corruption in Ukraine 2023", part of which was presented by NACP experts during the webinar "How does business perceive corruption?". The event was organized by the educational project of the CASE Ukraine think tank "Tsina Derzhavy" (The Price of the State).
For entrepreneurs, clearing customs of corruption remains a top priority. The top 5 priorities also include public procurement in road construction and infrastructure projects, the judiciary, and humanitarian aid in response to Russian aggression.
The level of corruption experience of Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2023 slightly decreased compared to the pre-war period (as of 2021) and has not actually changed since 2022 - 22.2% of respondents had their own corruption experience last year. This is in stark contrast to the level of perceived corruption prevalence, as 81.3% of business representatives consider corruption to be very or somewhat widespread.
When assessing their own corruption experience compared to the pre-war period and last year, entrepreneurs noted an increase in corruption practices only in the areas of law enforcement and control and supervision of business activities. In other areas, such as construction and land relations, electricity, gas and water supply, the judiciary, and tax authorities, the experience of corruption has decreased.
When asked about the main corruption practices in the most problematic sectors, entrepreneurs on average named officials as the initiators of corruption situations four times more often than users of public services.
During the presentation of the sociological data, Pavlo Buldovych, representative of the NACP's Communications and Information Policy Department, noted that in general, Ukrainian business is more optimistic about the situation with corruption than the population and has a higher level of awareness of digital services. According to him, over the past four years, the share of entrepreneurs who are willing to report corruption and approve of whistleblowers has been steadily increasing. At the same time, despite the steadily positive dynamics, the share of those who have reported corruption to the competent authorities remains relatively small (14%).
Oleksandr Vasylchuk, Head of the Private Sector Integrity Policy Development Department, noted that the NACP has developed reliable and secure tools for whistleblowers to report corruption and is constantly working to develop and promote the institution of whistleblowing, so the upward trend in the share of whistleblowers among businesses should continue. "In the context of preventing corruption in the private sector, the National Agency focuses on creating soft law tools for entrepreneurs to build a virtuous organization, primarily the introduction of modern compliance procedures," the expert said. He added that the NACP cooperates with the Business Ombudsman Council, receiving data on widespread corruption practices in business, and also conducts strategic analysis of corruption risks, particularly in the areas most affected by corruption.
