The biggest corruption risks in Chernihiv region are linked to infrastructure rebuilding, defence facility construction, and public procurement. This was mentioned by Serhii Hupiak, Deputy Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) during his working visit to the region.
NACP team held meetings with local activists, representatives of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration (RMA), regional and city councils, local self-government bodies, and law enforcement agencies.
The aim of the NACP's dialogue with the regions is to establish effective cooperation for the implementation of the state anti-corruption policy, taking into account the specific local challenges.
The agency's experts discussed ways to minimise corruption risks, as communities receive significant resources through decentralisation and reconstruction processes. That is why it is important to implement anti-corruption mechanisms adapted to regional conditions. NACP initiated similar meetings with the aim of strengthening cooperation with communities, local authorities, secondary and higher education institutions, the media, civil society organisations and the business community.
"In the Chernihiv region, the areas most vulnerable to possible abuse remain the reconstruction of facilities destroyed or damaged as a result of hostilities, the construction of fortifications and the purchase of timber for these purposes. In particular, the issue of the construction of defensive structures has its own specific features — information about contractors, locations, the cost of work and the equipment used is classified, which significantly complicates control and increases the likelihood of corruption. Due to the special location of the Chernihiv region in relation to the aggressor country and frequent shelling, the issue of transparent and effective use of budget funds for the restoration of facilities damaged by Russian terrorists is particularly relevant,’ said the Deputy Head of the NACP.
In addition, he emphasised the importance of maintaining an adequate level of financial integrity among public servants in Chernihiv region. Since the beginning of 2024, NACP has launched 17 full audits of declarations submitted by officials from Chernihiv region, and as of early May, 15 of them have been completed. In 7 of the 15 completed audits, false information amounting to over UAH 19 million was found.
The head of the Regional State Administration, Vyacheslav Chaus, also confirmed that transparency in procurement and recovery projects is of fundamental importance. He also emphasised that a working group on transparency and accountability is operating under the Regional State Administration, which includes representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, structural units of the Regional State Administration and the public. They monitored more than 14,000 procurements and took appropriate decisions in cases of inefficient use of funds.
The head of the regional council, Olena Dmytrenko, the deputy mayor, Viktor Gerashchenko, and the head of the city military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, also emphasised the need for cooperation with the anti-corruption infrastructure and strengthening the independence of anti-corruption officials.
NACP team also held a training seminar for authorised persons from structural units of the regional council, the regional state administration, the regional state administration and the Chernihiv city council on the use of new anti-corruption legislation tools.
As a reminder, NACP launched the regional trip project to strengthen cooperation with communities, local authorities, secondary and higher education institutions, journalists, civil society organisations, and to promote integrity through community engagement. Representatives of the Agency have already visited Lviv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Lutsk, Cherkasy, Khmelnytskyi, Uzhhorod, Kharkiv, Odesa, Rivne, Kropyvnytskyi, Ternopil, Zaporizhzhia and Poltava.
