The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continue consultations on the restoration of electronic declaration in Ukraine. The next round of discussions was held today, June 25, at the initiative of the IMF.
The IMF representatives' questions related to the evaluation of the norms proposed in the draft law on the restoration of mandatory declaration, developed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. We will remind you that the resumption of declarations and full checks of declarations is one of the IMF's structural "beacons" for providing Ukraine with another tranche. According to the Memorandum with the IMF, the corresponding law should be adopted by the end of July 2023.
Acting Head of the NACP, Atem Sytnyk, noted that the position of the NACP remains unchanged and coincides with the recommendations of the European Commission, given to the Government of Ukraine based on the results of the analysis of the relevant draft laws developed by the Ministry of Justice. NACP insists on the speedy adoption of draft law No. 8071 on the restoration of mandatory declaration, which was registered in the Parliament in September 2022 and takes into account all the necessary security aspects, while not creating loopholes for unscrupulous officials. Other versions of the draft laws create certain threats to the full functioning of the institution of declaration, as they provide for many exceptions and innovations, which, in the opinion of the NACP, are not justified by anything.
Currently, due to the war, filing of returns for 2021 and 2022 is still voluntary. About 400,000 officials submitted declarations for 2021, and about 250,000 for 2022. However, less than 10% of top officials (ministers, people's deputies, heads of Central Committees, ODA/OVA, etc.) are among them.
On June 22, Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, said that Ukraine should restore the system of electronic declaration of assets. Last December, seven priorities were formed for Ukraine as a candidate country for membership in the European Union. So far, the Commission has concluded that Ukraine has fulfilled two of these seven priorities. In the anti-corruption block, some progress was noted (namely, new heads of the SAPO and NABU were appointed). But the Commission noted that in order to ensure the sustainability of the fight against corruption, Ukraine should take further systematic measures, in particular, restore the operation of the electronic property declaration system and implement the approved State Anti-Corruption Program.
Representatives of the G7, GRECO, the World Bank, and other international institutions have also repeatedly expressed their support for the immediate restoration of electronic declaration.
