In July 2024, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) monitored 323 draft regulatory legal acts (RLAs): 240 draft acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) and 83 draft laws. Corruption-associated factors were identified in 9 draft regulations and anti-corruption examinations were conducted. They also identified 23 corruption-associated factors and provided 43 recommendations for their elimination.
In particular, it is about the draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Effective Forest Management Based on Forestry on the Principles of Close-to-Nature Forestry Adapted to Climate Change and Conservation of Biodiversity in Forests” (Reg. No. 9516 of 20.07.2023). NACP identified in it provisions that create conditions for corruption:
- granting excessive discretionary powers to the central executive body implementing the state policy in the field of forestry to solely decide on issues related to determining the volume of forest resources use;
- establishing a non-transparent mechanism for forest certification;
- introduction of a non-transparent and corruption-vulnerable procedure for assigning logging in the forest fund of Ukraine.
NACP submitted recommendations to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management and the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy for consideration to eliminate the above corruption risks.
NACP also conducted an anti-corruption investigation of the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 76 of January 27, 2023”. NACP also identified a corruption factor in it. It concerns the establishment of a non-transparent mechanism for identifying enterprises, institutions and organizations that are critical to the functioning of the economy and the well-being of the population during a special period, as well as critical to meeting the needs of the Armed Forces and other military formations during a special period.
NACP has provided the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, which is the developer of the draft act, with recommendations that will ensure the establishment of a transparent procedure for reserving persons liable for military service for the period of mobilization and wartime.
An anti-corruption expert review of the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Procedure for Using Funds Provided in the State Budget for State Support of Agricultural Producers by Allocating Budget Subsidies Per Unit of Cultivated Land” was conducted, and a number of corruption-prone factors were identified:
- Establishment of a non-transparent procedure for the creation and operation of regional commissions for decision-making on the payment of funds for state support of agricultural producers through the allocation of budget subsidies per unit of cultivated land
- unregulated mechanism for monitoring, evaluation and verification of financial documents confirming the targeted use of the budget funds received.
NACP provided recommendations to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, which is the author of the draft act, to establish a transparent mechanism for providing state support to agricultural producers operating in the territories within 25 km of the state border with the Russian Federation and/or the zone of active hostilities, and to provide state support in case of the fact of completely lost (dead) crops as a result of human-caused and natural emergencies in the current year.
