The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv brought administrative charges against the director of the Department of Economy and Investments of the Kyiv City State Administration. The decision was made based on the results of the review of the protocol drawn up by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) due to the official's refusal to comply with the Agency's legal requirements.
As part of monitoring and control over compliance with the requirements of the legislation on the prevention and settlement of conflicts of interest in the activities of officials, in March and April this year, the NACP twice appealed to the head of the said Department.
The requests concerned the provision of information and documents regarding the conclusion of investment agreements, the establishment of bonuses and other management decisions that could pose a risk of conflict of interest or signs of violation of anti-corruption legislation. However, the director of the Department twice refused to provide the requested information. She justified this by saying that, in her opinion, monitoring the activities of officials during investment competitions and contracts does not fall within the powers of the NACP. The official believed that the Agency's competence was limited only to issues of ethical conduct, prevention and resolution of conflicts of interest. However, in this case, the NACP, in particular, investigated the presence of conflict of interest during the exercise of powers to conduct investment competitions and conclude contracts, which was also explained to the official.
By refusing to provide the NACP with the requested information, the director of the Department violated the requirements of Part 8 of Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Prevention of Corruption’. The National Agency drew up a report on the administrative offence committed by the official and also issued a prescription to the head of the Kyiv City Council with a demand to eliminate the violation.
The court held the official administratively liable under Article 188-46 of the Code of Administrative Offences (Failure to comply with the lawful requirements (orders) of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention) and imposed an administrative penalty in the form of a fine.
In turn, the head of Kyiv City Council, in compliance with the order of the National Agency, issued an instruction to provide the NACP with all requested documents and information, and also announced the start of an official investigation into the director of the Department.
