Representatives of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) took part in an offsite meeting of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, which was considering Draft Law No. 3091 ‘On State Environmental Control’. The meeting was also attended by members of the Ukrainian Parliament and representatives of the Ministry of Ecology, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the State Environmental Inspectorate, the State Forestry Agency, the State Emergency Service, the State Border Guard Service, the National Police and others.
This draft law is key to reforming the environmental supervision system in Ukraine. It is aimed at improving the efficiency of environmental inspections, strengthening control over polluters and bringing environmental legislation in line with European standards. The meeting concluded that the draft law requires significant revision to fully implement EU standards, fulfil obligations under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and take into account the NACP's recommendations.
"In the environmental sector, violations or abuses by inspectors often occur, as the authorities with the power to inspect and prosecute have broad discretionary powers, which creates high corruption risks. This is also influenced by the level of transparency, accountability, standardisation of procedures and digitalisation in the activities of the supervisory authority. That is why our main task is to identify corruption risks in advance and eliminate gaps in legislation, as it is always easier to prevent corruption than to investigate criminal offences,' said NAPC Deputy Head Serhii Hupiak.
The NACP carries out methodological and coordination work within the anti-corruption mainstream to develop and implement a systemic anti-corruption policy based on measurable data. The NACP will continue to cooperate with all parties to improve the quality of the draft law.
Since 2020, the NACP has conducted an anti-corruption review of more than 10 draft legal acts regulating relations in the field of environmental protection.
