TOP-10 NACP’s achievements in 2020

This month, among the priorities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the resumption of criminal liability for intentionally providing inaccurate information in a declaration and the renewal of powers of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). These measures should be the first steps towards addressing the constitutional crisis that resulted from the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. No. 13-r/2020. In order to reiterate why it is important to renew the powers of the NACP, and to demonstrate the contribution of each of our employees in the prevention and combating of corruption, we share the results of the Agency’s activities. The results cover the period of January 15 to October 27, 2020. In January, the NACP was fully rebooted and it was the results of the new team’s work that led to the October decision of the CCU. 1) Undeclared assets worth UAH half a billion found After the reboot, in May 2020, the NACP began to verify declarations under the new Verification Procedure. From May to October, the NACP verified 446 declarations. Violations were found in 131 of them. At the same time, 97 declarations had signs of a criminal offense. The Agency provided this data to law enforcement agencies (the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation and the National Police). The identified discrepancies amounted to UAH 497 million. Prior to the adoption of the decision of the Constitutional Court, which declared certain provisions of the Law of Ukraine on Prevention of Corruption and the Criminal Code of Ukraine unconstitutional, the NACP began the verification of 1,006 declarations. 2) UAH 900 million During the first 100 days of work after the reboot, the NACP handed over to law enforcement agencies materials on declaring inaccurate information amounting to almost UAH 900 million, which the former NACP team kept “in a drawer”. These violations were found in materials of full inspections for a period until September 2019. In particular, these are materials about nine MPs of the previous and current convocations. 3) Launch of POLITDATA Register In mid-January 2020, amendments to the Law on Political Parties in Ukraine came into force, introducing a new procedure for political party reporting and establishment and maintenance of a Unified State Register of Political Party Reports on Property, Income, Expenditures and Financial Liabilities. This is POLITDATA. The Register was developed and launched in test mode in record time – within just three months. POLITDATA is for simplifying reporting for political parties and providing people with better access to such information. It has been running in test mode since July 16 – parties can familiarize themselves with the functionality of the system, while submitting reports in hard copy. When POLITDATA is fully launched, online reporting will be mandatory for all parties. 4) 626 administrative protocols issued Since the beginning of the year, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention has issued 626 protocols. In particular, 137 protocols under Articles related to declaring: untimely submission of declaration without a valid reason, declaration of inaccurate information, and failure to report changes in property status. 246 protocols were issued with regard to leaders and authorized members of political parties for violation of the reporting procedure and failure to provide information to the Agency. 234 protocols were issued by the Agency for failure to report a conflict of interest, commission of acts in a conflict of interest (Art. 172-7 of the Code of Ukraine of Administrative Offenses), violation of restrictions on secondary jobs and engagement in other activities (Art. 172-4 of the Code of Ukraine of Administrative Offenses) and violation of statutory restrictions on receiving gifts (Art. 172-5 of the Code of Ukraine of Administrative Offenses). Another 9 administrative protocols were issued in relation to non-compliance with legal requirements (orders) of the NACP (Art. 188-46 of the Code of Ukraine of Administrative Offenses). 5) Declaring by SSU employees and persons that do not submit declarations publicly Through the cooperation of the NACP and the Security Service of Ukraine, in 2020, for the first time, public access to declarations of high-ranking officials of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) was provided. Also, for the first time since the launch of the e-declaration system, the Agency began the verification of declarations of the SSU employees, including those whose positions were a secret. For this purpose, a special procedure has been adopted, which ensures additional security of data on law enforcement officers. According to verification results, the first cases were handed over to law enforcement agencies. In 2020, for the first time, the NACP began full verification of declarations of officials of the intelligence agencies of Ukraine and/or those holding state secret-related positions. These are employees of the SBI, the National Police, the Department of State Guard, the State Fiscal Service, the State Border Guard Service, the State Penitentiary Service, and the staff of the intelligence service. The relevant procedures were developed by the NACP Internal Control Department together with the mentioned agencies. Five administrative protocols on corruption-related offenses were submitted to court against high-ranking secret service officials, and two substantiated conclusions were submitted to the pre-trial investigation bodies. 6) Innovative Anti-Corruption Strategy The NACP developed the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2020–2024, which is to become a tool for monitoring anti-corruption activities of authorities. It is on the basis of the Strategy that the NACP will develop a state program with clear performance indicators by which the public will be able to evaluate anti-corruption activities of authorities. According to preliminary estimates, through implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2020-2024, the state will be able to save up to UAH 200 billion annually. The Strategy was approved by the Government and supported by the National Council for Anti-Corruption Policy, headed by the President. On November 5, the Parliament approved the relevant draft law. The preparations for the second reading are underway. 7) Transparent elections to the Public Council On June 17, a new Public Council at the NACP began its work. It exercises public control over the Agency’s activities. For the first time, the Public Council was formed based on the results of open online voting, without any signs of unauthorized interference or influence on voting results. It was possible to hold a transparent competition and expand the powers of the Public Council after the Verkhovna Rada approved a Law on rebooting the NACP. 8) Protection of whistleblowers This year, the NACP was given more powers related to whistleblower protection and for the first time began to issue orders to eliminate the violations of labour rights of whistleblowers. The NACP conducts inspections of compliance with the labour rights of whistleblowers, the right to confidentiality and anonymity, and the right to free legal aid. As of November 2020, the NACP is monitoring 66 whistleblower lawsuits. This year, whistleblowers won 15 cases. On November 5, the Verkhovna Rada approved in the first reading, a draft law that envisages the creation of a Unified Portal of Whistleblower Reports. The portal will be administered by the NACP; it will greatly simplify the reporting, ensure the confidentiality of whistleblowers and minimize the risks of unauthorized access to whistleblower reports. 9) Lifestyle monitoring launched In July 2020, the NACP began monitoring the lifestyle of officials. This is provided by the Law of Ukraine on Prevention of Corruption. At the time of the adoption of the Constitutional Court Decision, the NACP had started monitoring the lifestyles of 47 high-ranking officials, 7 of which had been submitted for full verification of declarations. If the NACP established an inconsistency of the official’s lifestyle with the assets and income declared by him/her, this would be the basis for full verification of the submitted declaration and notification of law enforcement agencies. Without lifestyle monitoring, public servants will be able to declare expenditures in excess of their declared income with near impunity, spend about half or a third of their official annual earnings on a week-long vacation abroad, or fly private planes at the expense of unknown sources. 10) More than 8.4 thousand requests for special inspections The NACP is one of 10 state agencies that carry out special inspections of persons applying for high positions, namely, positions with a responsible or particularly responsible status and an increased risk of corruption. The NACP checks whether the candidate is in the Register of Corrupt Officials and verifies the accuracy of information in the declaration. For almost 11 months of 2020, the NACP processed more than 8.4 thousand requests for special inspections of candidates for public office. If during the inspection information is found that does not meet the requirements established by law, such a person is to be denied appointment to the position. Currently, in view of the Decision of the CCU No. 13-r/2020 of 27.10.2020, the NACP’s activity remains blocked. Nevertheless, we believe that legislators will find legal ways to address this situation, and next year we will report not on suspended inspections, but on the specific number of individuals held liable for corrupt practices and the operational anti-corruption tools.