A conflict of interest is a prerequisite for most corruption crimes and offenses. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) detects and responds to such cases on a monthly basis in accordance with the powers defined by law. The first month of 2024 was no exception. In January, the NACP drew up a number of protocols on conflict of interest-related abuses. They have been sent to local courts for consideration, and decisions have already been made on several preliminary materials.
For example, last month, the NACP drew up a report on committing an administrative offense related to corruption under Art. 172-7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses against Ivan Rudyi, Head of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (CRGL). He failed to report the existence of a real conflict of interest during the meeting of the CRGL, where the issue of initiating disciplinary proceedings against him and his removal was considered, and voted in favor of initiating the relevant disciplinary proceedings.
In addition, the NACP drew up a report on committing an administrative offense related to corruption under a similar article against the acting Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU), Serhiy Holovatyi. It was established that he failed to notify the CCU of a real conflict of interest when considering a complaint that concerned him personally and proposed to consider this complaint as part of the CCU's agenda (not at a special plenary session). By doing so, the judge avoided a possible disciplinary review of his actions and possible dismissal.
A report was also drawn up against Mykhailo Positko, head of the Kamianets-Podilskyi City Council (Khmelnytskyi region), for committing administrative offenses related to corruption under parts 1 and 2 of Article 172-7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. The NACP found that at the plenary session of the council, he participated in the voting on the appointment of a person who made voluntary contributions to Positko's election fund during the 2020 election of the mayor of Kamianets-Podilskyi in 2020. In addition, he made a decision to set the maximum possible amount of bonuses for high performance, and determined the amount of monthly bonuses for this person.
In January, several court decisions were also made following the review of reports on administrative violations drawn up by the NACP.
In particular, the court of first instance found the acting Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU), Serhiy Holovatyi guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 1 of Article 188-46 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Thus, during the verification of information on the judge's actions in conditions of a real conflict of interest, the NACP sent a request to the CCU to provide copies of the relevant documents. However, the National Agency was denied the requested documents. In this regard, the NACP issued a binding order to the Chairman, which was also ignored. Taking into account the above circumstances, a protocol was drawn up against the acting Chairman of the CCU.
The Novomoskovsk City District Court of Dnipropetrovs'k Region found the Deputy Head of the Luhansk Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support guilty of committing an administrative offense under Art. 172-4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of restrictions on combining work and other activities). The court proceedings were based on the NACP's substantiated conclusion and a protocol drawn up by the Strategic Investigations Department in Luhansk region of the State Investigation Service of Ukraine. The court found that the deputy military commissar, along with his main job, was engaged in entrepreneurial activity - he provided services to a public organization, for which he received income of almost UAH 1.3 million.
