NACP opens access to the Register of Corrupt Officials, taking security aspects into account - Head of the NACP

04.09.2023

Ukraine has been at war for more than a year and a half, but this does not stop its path forward to achieve the victory of integrity and therefore zero tolerance for corruption. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, government agencies, including the NACP, have had to restrict access to a number of registers, including the Unified State Register of persons who have committed acts of corruption or corruption-related offenses (hereinafter referred to as the Register), taking into account the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "Some Issues of Ensuring the Functioning of Information and Communication Systems, Electronic Communication Systems, and Public Electronic Registers under Martial Law" No. 263 dated 12.03.2022. At the same time, there is a significant public interest in opening the data in the Register. The lack of access to such information significantly complicates the activities of government agencies and other organizations, in particular when appointing candidates for relevant positions, conducting public procurement, other transactions, etc. When restoring access to the Register, the NACP also took into account security aspects. The NACP received a response from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stating that there are no risks in restoring access to the Register, provided that the information on the place of work or position at the time of the corruption or corruption-related offense is not reflected. "Open data is a powerful tool for integrity and, thus, anti-corruption. Opening the data of the Register of persons who have committed corruption and corruption-related offenses shows that the data of the Register of declarations can also be opened, taking security aspects into account," said NACP Head Oleksandr Novikov. The NACP expects the Verkhovna Rada to adopt draft law No. 9534, which restores the electronic declaration of officials' assets, suspended due to the introduction of martial law, and should regulate the issue of public access to the Register of Declarations. The Register of Persons Who Have Committed Corruption and Corruption-Related Offenses is available here. The Unified State Register of Persons Who Have Committed Acts of Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses (the Register of Corrupt Officials) is a portal containing information on all individuals and legal entities that have committed corruption offenses. The NACP has been administering this registry since February 2019. In the registry, you can get a certificate on the presence or absence of information about yourself and about a legal entity that has been subject to criminal sanctions for a corruption offense. Read more here.