Governmental and non-governmental organizations of the Czech Republic are interested in objective information about the state of prevention and fight against corruption in Ukraine. This was stated by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Czech Republic, as well as members of the AMO association, which organized the expert meeting "Exchange of best practices between the Czech Republic and Ukraine in the fight against corruption: Challenges and new opportunities for cooperation." Ukraine was represented at these events by the Deputy Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) Artem Sytnyk, who was on a working visit to the Czech Republic.
Czech officials emphasized the critical importance of having confidence that Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure is working effectively now, at a time when European assistance to Ukraine is being revitalized.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Marian noted that the Czech Republic knows better than anyone how important it is to support Ukraine. The active position of the allied country is manifested both in the acceptance of the largest number of Ukrainian citizens per capita in the European Union (according to the data of the European Union Asylum Agency EUAA) and in constant financial and military assistance. The main issues discussed at the meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials were the identification and confiscation of Russian and other criminally obtained assets, countering Russian propaganda and disinformation, strategic communications, and strengthening cooperation not only through diplomatic lines but also at the level of industries and institutions.
Together with Czech Minister of Interio, Vit Rakušan, they discussed the topics of the recent meeting with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko. They discussed various areas of cooperation, in particular, exchange of information about Ukrainian refugees. After all, the increase in the number of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic goes hand in hand with the growing need to exchange information about potential risks associated with certain categories of applicants.
Vít Rakušan noted that the main condition for providing aid to Ukraine is the fight against corruption, and it is extremely important for the Czech Republic to know about such cases. Schemes of illegal employment of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic are of particular importance. People fear losing their jobs and don't go to the police, which is a problem.
Currently, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are preparing a new agreement on cooperation between the law enforcement agencies, to replace the outdated 1997 document. The agreement, in particular, should ensure an effective fight against organized crime. Artem Sytnyk noted that the anti-corruption bodies, in particular, the NACP, would be grateful for active cooperation in the direction of identification of illegally acquired assets on the territory of the Czech Republic of those Ukrainians who are hiding from the Ukrainian justice.
Mr Rakušan said that he sincerely appreciated the courage of Ukraine to resist Russian aggression and assured that Ukraine will continue to have the support of Czech government officials. Both sides have a common interest in the detection of crimes.
Further meetings at the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic were devoted to information exchange at the level of relevant units. In particular, they were attended by leaders responsible for the areas of financial crimes, organized crime, anti-corruption, strategic analysis, and countering disinformation.
Artem Sytnyk spoke in detail about what NACP is doing to prevent war-related corruption (crossing the border, checking military commissions and officials of the Ministry of Defense, risks in the work of military medical commissions, eliminating risks during reconstruction, etc), as well as about the systematic work in the direction of prevention and combating corruption. Czech officials were interested in the monitoring system for the implementation of the State Anti-corruption Program, the corruption whistleblower portal launched six months ago, the system for checking electronic declarations of public servants, and lifestyle monitoring. Most of these tools are not practiced in the EU countries or have a different form, so sharing this experience is extremely important for both sides.
At all meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, as well as with media and non-governmental organizations, the issue of cooperation between law enforcement, government, and anti-corruption bodies of the two countries and the need to strengthen institutional cooperation were raised.
NACP expresses its gratitude to the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic for its assistance in organizing a number of events in Prague to establish contacts and strengthen such cooperation.
