The NACP and Lifecell are launching an anti-corruption project in the telecom industry

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the mobile operator Lifecell are launching a joint Telecom Against Corruption project. This initiative is the first example of a public-private partnership in Ukraine aimed to effectively encourage the detection of corruption offenses. The relevant Memorandum was signed during a meeting on International Anti-Corruption Day. The purpose of the Telecom Against Corruption project is to encourage all telecom market participants, civil servants and local authorities that interact with the telecom industry, to strictly comply with the law in their activities, to be objective and impartial. As part of this initiative, Lifecell will provide material rewards to whistleblowers of corruption offenses in the telecom industry, encouraging the detection of all corrupt practices in the industry. The Memorandum is open for signing by all market participants seeking to implement best practices of combating corruption. “The telecom industry is one of the most corrupt in the world. The fines for corruption offenses in this industry amounted to more than USD 2 billion last year. And these corruption offenses were detected through whistleblowers. We believe that in Ukraine there are also people who are ready to expose corruption. The NACP and Lifecell will encourage and protect such Ukrainians. We are pleased to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with Lifecell today, on International Anti-Corruption Day,” said Oleksandr Novikov, NACP Head. How does the anti-corruption mechanism work?

• In case of detection of corruption schemes in the telecom industry, the whistleblower should inform the pre-trial investigation authorities about the relevant offense.
• Cash rewards for exposing corruption offenses, estimated at more than UAH 10 million, are provided by the state.
• Lifecell will pay an additional monetary reward for exposing corruption offenses in the telecom industry, the amount or loss incurred through which is up to UAH 10 million. Accordingly, the whistleblowers of corruption schemes in the telecom industry will receive a monetary reward from Lifecell in the amount of up to UAH 1 million (10% of the amount of corruption offense), if on the basis of information provided by the whistleblower a corruption offense is detected and there is a court conviction.

Thus, the joint efforts of the NACP and Lifecell will encourage and support all whistleblowers of corruption offenses in the industry. Andriy Osipov, Head of Lifecell’s Legal Department, said: “We are very pleased to be an innovator of anti-corruption practices in the telecom industry. And we are sincerely grateful to our colleagues from the NACP, with whom we developed the necessary procedures and today we are launching the Telecom Against Corruption project. I am confident that by joining the efforts, we will be able to encourage the detection and reduction of all corruption offenses in the industry, regardless of their scale. The honest and transparent conditions in the telecom market will promote a smooth development of technology and accelerate the development of a digital state in Ukraine.” Full list of Project conditions is available at: https://www.lifecell.ua/uk/whistleblower/