Implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Program is a tool for improving the health of all spheres of the state’s life

The Government’s approval of the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025 (the Program) is an extremely important event for the state’s anti-corruption policy, but the most important thing now is to ensure its effective and timely implementation by all authorities. Oleksandr Novikov, the Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), noted this while commenting on the publication of the Program by the Government.

“We often say that corruption is a disease. And every disease must be correctly diagnosed. An Anti-Corruption Strategy is a correctly made diagnosis with a predicted result – recovery, and the State Anti-Corruption Program is a treatment scheme for a patient”, –  said Oleksandr Novikov, Head of the NACP.

According to him, the Program is a specific plan that must be implemented within the established time frame. From now on, all authorities should focus on the implementation of this document. After all, it will give concrete results for democratic reforms and minimization of corruption risks in every sphere, and most importantly, it will simplify the interaction of the state with citizens and businesses. In addition, the implementation of the Program measures will contribute to the transparent post-war reconstruction and integration of Ukraine into the EU, NATO and OECD.

He added that this is a program that will definitely not remain on paper, because the law and the decision of the Government on approving the NACP program have delegated the authority to create a system of coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of its implementation. At the moment, the NACPis finalizing the development of a special IT tool for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the Program. Each authority will regularly submit information on what it has already done. Therefore, citizens will be able to trace which authorities work effectively in the field of anti-corruption, and which are outsiders.

The NACP will coordinate the process of implementation of the document by all authorities.

Currently, the National Agency for the Implementation of Laws and Government Decisions is developing the necessary legislative framework for coordination, monitoring and evaluation, in particular:

• the procedure for coordinating the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the implementation of the Program;
• the procedure for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the implementation of the Program;
• the procedure for providing statistical information on work results by ministries, other central and local bodies of executive power, state enterprises, institutions and organizations;
• provisions on the information system for monitoring the implementation of the state anti-corruption policy.

How and who will implement the State Anti-Corruption Program?

The State Anti-Corruption Program is a road map for authorities to combat corruption. Thanks to the Program, each industry received a number of the most important anti-corruption tasks, the implementation of which will reduce the risk of corruption in all, and, first of all, in 15 priority areas. Specific performers and a clear deadline for achieving the result are fixed for each event. The main responsible body is the NACP.

“The National Agency must directly implement 26% of the program’s activities. This is the largest number. In addition, the NACP, coordinating and monitoring the progress of the implementation of the program by all performers, will report on the implementation of the Program,” – said Oleksandr Novikov.

The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education and Science, and other authorities have to perform the largest number of tasks after the NACP.

On March 4, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025. This document defines a system of specific anti-corruption measures aimed at implementing the Anti-Corruption Strategy. On March 13, its text was published on the Government’s website.

The Program covers the following areas: improving the effectiveness of the anti-corruption system; ensuring the inevitability of responsibility for corruption; defense; justice; state regulation of Economy; customs affairs and taxation; construction, land relations and infrastructure; health care; education and social protection; antimonopoly policy.

Text of the Program is available in Ukrainian via the link.