Dnipro demonstrates progress in building integrity and preventing corruption, says the Deputy Head of the NACP

25.10.2023

A high-quality and consistent policy of local authorities to create a system of corruption prevention not only contributes to effective local governance but also creates conditions for raising funds for the restoration and development of regions. This was stated by Artem Sytnyk, Deputy Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), during a meeting with the leadership of the Dnipro Regional State Administration and Dnipro City Council during his working visit to the city. According to Mr.Sytnyk, the war significantly reduced the state's ability to finance communities. At the same time, the needs of communities have increased significantly due to the unprecedented destruction of industrial and critical infrastructure, housing, and social facilities by the enemy. In such circumstances, transparent procurement, open data, and minimization of the human factor through the digitalization of public and municipal services are key preventive anti-corruption measures. They create a favorable environment for business development, create a comfortable investment climate in the regions, and increase the trust of international partners in the communities. Artem Sytnyk reminded us that the NACP has developed the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the State Anti-Corruption Program until 2025 (SACP), which are also implemented by regional state administrations, in particular in terms of state land inventory, inventory and monitoring of cultural heritage sites, and ensuring data openness policy. In order to effectively monitor the implementation of the SACP measures, the NACP has launched a separate information system of monitoring that reflects the status of implementation of the relevant measures by each executor. This means that all results are available to the public online, and this is also one of the important indicators for investors and potential donors. The NACP has introduced many anti-corruption compliance tools, which the Agency's representative urged local authorities and the public to actively use. "Despite martial law and constant threats to information security, the National Agency is resuming the work of all the most important anti-corruption tools to control the legality of the acquisition of wealth by politicians and officials. With due regard to security aspects, Unified State Register of Declarations has been restored, and in December, the NACP will open public access to the POLITDATA, a register of political party reports, has recently been launched, and the obligation of parties to submit financial reports on the use of budget funds will soon be restored. We have also recently launched the Unified Whistleblower Reporting Portal, to which we are gradually connecting more and more authorities. This entire technological anti-corruption ecosystem gives civil society the opportunity to detect corruption online and take a direct part in combating it," said the NACP Deputy Head. He also emphasized that the NACP's priority is to facilitate the formation and implementation of an effective anti-corruption policy by building integrity-building infrastructure. In particular, the NACP has developed a number of training courses, explanations, and recommendations for local authorities to eliminate and prevent corruption risks during reconstruction in the areas of education, urban planning, and land management. Artem Sytnyk and other NACP representatives spoke in detail about the peculiarities of the declaration, which was recently reintroduced. "The main purpose of such visits is to prevent corruption and build integrity. On October 12, the Law on Restoration of Declarations came into force. Special inspections have already been resumed. We are doing everything to ensure that people have as few problems as possible with filling out and submitting declarations," said Artem Sytnyk. Assessing the situation in Dnipro, the NACP Deputy Head emphasized that the city is gradually building mechanisms for transparency in the municipality. The head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration spoke about the requirements for transparency of his team and the work of a special working group in the region, whose task is to control the use of public funds. For his part, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov emphasized the need to work with officials to explain the new provisions and the effective impact of the city's Declaration of Integrity signed in the summer. At the meeting with Mr. Sytnyk, he said that the Dnipro community was one of the first in Ukraine to implement the provisions of the Declaration of Integrity. The city has now opened up information on public procurement and will take further steps to increase transparency and accountability. The head of the community also expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with the NACP, in particular in terms of clarifications on conflicts of interest and other issues related to corruption prevention and building integrity in local government.