FCPAméricas Blog

Corruption, Crisis, and Reform: the Example of Ukraine

Author: Guest Author

UkraineThe following guest post is from William Buschur, a law student at the University of South Carolina School of Law. The post is about Ukraine – a country outside of FCPAmerica’s usual Latin American beat. But Ukraine provides a trenchant example for Latin American countries, both in terms of the impact of corruption as a “revolutionary” concern, the anticorruption reforms undertaken by the new government, and the role of civil society.

For months, the world has been transfixed by the events unfolding in Ukraine, a country torn between its Soviet past and European future. Corruption has been a significant element of that conflict – Ukraine inherited a governmental corruption problem upon its independence in 1991 that it never addressed. Instead, officials have been free to embezzle state funds for the enrichment of themselves and their political allies. Now, however, the fledgling government in Kyiv is taking meaningful steps toward structural reforms to address corruption, even as the country is rocked by Russian-sponsored civil strife.

The rampant corruption of ousted president Victor Yanukovych’s government greatly fueled the massive uprising by the Ukrainian people which toppled the Yanukovych regime. The popular mood is poignantly illustrated in the YouTube video “I Am a Ukrainian,” published during the height of the protests and which has gained over eight million views, in which the young Ukrainian narrator voices her outrage at corrupt courts and politicians amid the images and sounds of revolution.  The new Kyiv authorities are keenly aware of this popular mood, and – almost without notice by the media – have passed significant new laws and implemented important new programs to address corruption. These reforms have been hastened by continuous pressure from Ukraine’s civil society, and include laws to:

  1. combat corruption in public procurement;
  2. increase transparency and access to information regarding the activities of governmental bodies; and
  3. impose criminal liability for legislators who engage in corrupt practices.

The amended public procurement law in particular has been praised by the World Bank for bringing Ukraine into greater alignment with good international practices. The new law eliminates numerous exceptions that previously allowed bad actors to enrich themselves.

Civil Society and Anticorruption

Another important element of the amended public procurement law is that it seeks to engage Ukraine’s increasingly powerful civil society by increasing transparency in the public procurement process. Hopefully, the civil society that proved so resilient during the Euromaidan protests will now be able to uncover corrupt practices and compel the government to hold bad actors responsible.

Ukraine’s civil society has proved to be a huge asset in designing and implementing the ongoing reforms of the Ukrainian state. Just like the new government in Kyiv, it too was tempered by revolution on the Maidan—many of the new governmental ministers are Euromaidan activists who were holding the barricades against Yanukovych’s police forces only a few months ago. Additionally, the government has reached out to Ukraine’s civil society of experts to design a roadmap for reform, called the “Revival Reform Package,” which the parliament and other governmental bodies are now in the process of implementing with the help of western experts and advisors.

Ukraine undoubtedly has a very long road ahead. It ranks among the lowest in measurements of rule of law and corruption perception, faces a looming financial crisis, and must also deal with ongoing violations of its territorial integrity by Russia. But further reforms are in the works, including a draft law that will modernize the Ukrainian educational system, and a plan to implement a nation-wide system of health insurance.

Judging from the encouraging actions by the Ukrainian government over the past two months, I expect to see quiet, continued progress in implementing new legislation and reform initiatives. Moreover, the popular mandate won by president-elect Poroshenko and the support by the European Union and United States will maintain momentum for reform in Kyiv. I am optimistic that the coming months will bring developments befitting the Euromaidan movement’s aspirations of dignity and democratic governance.

The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author in his or her individual capacity, and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone else, including the entities with which the author is affiliated, the author`s employers, other contributors, FCPAméricas, or its advertisers. The information in the FCPAméricas blog is intended for public discussion and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice to its readers and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It does not seek to describe or convey the quality of legal services. FCPAméricas encourages readers to seek qualified legal counsel regarding anti-corruption laws or any other legal issue. FCPAméricas gives permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author and to FCPAméricas LLC.

© 2014 FCPAméricas, LLC

Post authored by Guest

Categories: English, FCPA, World Bank

CommentsComments | Print This Post Print This Post |

Leave a Comment

Comments

Leave a Reply


Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

View previous campaigns.

Close