The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) conducted an anti-corruption review of a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine concerning amendments to the procedures approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 738 dated 21 June 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the Resolution).
This Resolution regulates certain issues related to the provision of grants to businesses, in particular, it approves the Procedure for providing microgrants for the creation or development of own businesses and the Procedure for providing grants for the creation or development of own businesses to combatants, persons with disabilities as a result of war and members of their families. This is a state programme of financial support for entrepreneurs, and the document defines the procedure for granting microgrants and grants for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, horticulture, greenhouse farming, etc.
The changes are aimed at creating opportunities for individuals and business entities to replace lost, damaged or spoiled equipment purchased with state financial support in the form of microgrants or grants at their own expense and with the prior approval of the authorised bodies.
However, the document contained provisions that created risks of corruption. In particular, the process of approving the replacement of such equipment by regional employment centres and special commissions involved in the approval procedure was not transparent. At the same time, the procedure for approving and adopting such decisions was not clearly defined.
In its anti-corruption expert opinion, the National Agency provided recommendations aimed at eliminating opportunities for relevant corruption abuses.
The developer of the document, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, took into account the NACP's recommendations in full, removing provisions containing legal uncertainty from the draft regulatory act, thereby eliminating possible corrupt practices.
As a reminder, NACP previously conducted an anti-corruption review of documents regulating the reboot of customs and customs brokerage activities and provided recommendations to eliminate corruption risks.
In total, since the beginning of the year, the National Agency has provided developers of regulatory acts with over 100 recommendations. The vast majority of them were taken into account by the relevant authorities. In particular, taking into account the NACP's comments, resolutions were adopted on the payment of one-time financial assistance in the event of the death or disability of a volunteer and on the provision of state subsidies for housing for family-type children's homes, orphans and children deprived of parental care.
The conclusions of the NACP's anti-corruption expert review can be found here.
