Representatives of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) participated in a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Swiss-Ukrainian project ‘Support to Ukraine in the Fight against Corruption and Asset Recovery’ (Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery Support project - ACARSU). The meeting focused on the interim results of cooperation, further areas of interaction and the development of a new Anti-Corruption Strategy for Ukraine for 2026-2030.
Acting Head of NACP Mykola Korneliuk noted that within the framework of the project, NACP and its partners presented the results of a study on corruption risks in the forestry sector. The study was conducted in cooperation with the Basel Institute on Governance, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Ukraine and the Specialised Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Office of the Prosecutor General's Office. The analytical findings have already proven their practical value.
He added that strategic analysis in partnership allows identifying not only superficial manifestations but also systemic causes of corruption, which contributes to the development of effective mechanisms for its elimination.
Currently, the NACP is working with the Basel Institute on Governance to study corruption risks in the construction, reconstruction and overhaul of civil infrastructure, with a presentation scheduled for this summer. The subsoil use sector also remains in focus.
NACP Deputy Head Dmytro Kalmykov said that the new Anti-Corruption Strategy will focus on two main tasks: further developing a comprehensive system to fight corruption and minimising corruption in the areas most affected by it through key sectoral reforms. These tasks are being worked on by internal teams, which include representatives of the NACP, and combined expert teams, which include over 100 representatives of state bodies, civil society organisations, international partners and academics. Their work includes analysing legislation, identifying key challenges, conducting in-depth research into problems and developing optimal solutions.
‘The expert support of the Basel Institute and joint comprehensive analytical research in the areas of subsoil use and restoration are extremely important for the implementation of the tasks we face in developing the new Strategy,’ said Dmytro Kalmykov.
Senior Advisor for Central and Eastern Europe at the Basel Institute on Governance, Juhani Grossmann, emphasised the importance of partnership: "It is an honor to support Ukraine's remarkably resilient anti-corruption infrastructure as it continues to innovate in response to the full-scale invasion. We thank for the continued excellent engagement of our partners. The meeting of the ACARSU Steering Committee comes at a crucial time as the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy takes shape and we appreciate the opportunity to coordinate individual agency reforms with this government-spanning plan," he emphasised.
The Steering Committee meeting was also attended by representatives of the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine, the Basel Institute on Governance, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), the Specialised Environmental Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine, other state bodies and enterprises participating in the project. During the meeting, special attention was paid to the issues of returning Ukrainian assets hidden abroad and preventing corruption in the environmental protection and transport sectors.
For reference
Swiss-Ukrainian project ‘Supporting Ukraine in the fight against corruption and asset recovery’ ACARSU is a comprehensive initiative implemented with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project aims to systematically strengthen Ukraine's anti-corruption ecosystem, develop the institutional capacity of state bodies in the field of corruption prevention and facilitate the effective return of illegally transferred assets.
The ACARSU Steering Committee is an advisory body established on the basis of memoranda between the Basel Institute on Governance and Ukrainian authorities (NACP, NABU, Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Ukrzaliznytsia, State Enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’). This year, the Specialised Environmental Prosecutor's Office, the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety and LLC ‘Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine’ also joined the committee.
The Basel Institute on Governance is an independent non-profit organisation specialising in anti-corruption and asset recovery. The Institute provides technical support to Ukrainian institutions, particularly in the areas of strategic risk analysis, digital tool implementation, staff training and the development of solutions for effective governance. Cooperation with the NACP is formalised by a memorandum signed on 21 June 2024 during the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Vilnius.
