Ukraine war: Kiev benefits from new fight against corruption

Ukraine has been battling endemic corruption since it gained independence in 1991, but government officials and separatists alike say the fight is key to winning the existential war it is fighting with Russia.

They have had some success. Anti-corruption organization Transparency International ranks Ukraine at its highest level since 2006, currently ranking 104th out of 180 countries on its Corruption Perceptions Index.

“Most anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine are doing pretty well,” Andrii Borovik, executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, told the BBC.

One such outcome, he said, was the arrest in May 2023 of then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Knyazev on bribery charges.

“This can be a safety net because if you see someone being arrested, you will think twice before doing something corrupt,” he said.

Other high-profile arrests included Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky and SBU intelligence official Artem Shilo.

All three have denied wrongdoing and have been released on bail. Investigation is ongoing.

A key milestone came in 2015, when a digital platform called Prozorro helped reduce corruption in government procurement, saving Ukraine nearly $6 billion (£4.7 billion) in public funds in just four years. .

Borowykh said Ukraine’s immediate task was to focus on rooting out corruption in tax and customs services, as well as strengthening financial oversight.

“A lot of money is flowing into Ukraine from the West, and of course they are questioning whether they can properly manage this money,” he added.

In addition to draining Ukraine’s scarce resources, corruption has hampered the flow of foreign aid in recent years. Donald Trump cited corruption concerns when asked about delays in aid to Ukraine during his time as U.S. president.

Corruption is also a major obstacle to recruiting more soldiers for the war with Russia. Last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired all regional officials in charge of conscription over concerns about his bribery. Thousands of Ukrainians were also bribed to flee the country to avoid being sent to war.

Andriy Shinyuk, deputy head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption, argues that frequent reports of Ukrainian officials being accused of corruption are a welcome sign.

“This doesn’t mean there’s more crime being committed. It means we’re better able to do our jobs,” he says.

“There is no person or position left in Ukraine that anti-corruption agencies cannot touch,” he told the BBC. “This is probably our main achievement, because we could never have dreamed of it a few years ago.”

Dmytro Kalmykov, head of the anti-corruption policy department at the National Anti-Corruption Agency, a government agency, said corruption had been nearly eradicated in some of the hardest-hit areas – for example, government services such as the issuance of passports and permits and licenses.

He also told the BBC that great progress had been made in education and police reform.

However, Kalmykov admits that the government has not been very successful in combating corruption in the use of natural resources (such as mining and forestry), regulating monopolies, and large-scale infrastructure projects.

“Progress is slowest where big profits and big companies meet,” he says.

According to him, “over the next five to 10 years, the government should focus on cleaning up the judiciary, which will make the entire administrative system healthier.”

Anti-corruption activists agree that the Ukrainian government has become more aggressive in fighting corruption.

“Last winter, something clicked in their heads. Their attitude really changed. The important thing is that it changed at the very top,” said Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption journalist. , says Yuri Nikolov.

“Perhaps they realized that things were getting worse,” or the government in Kiev was under pressure from the West, Nikolov told the BBC.

The fact is, “law enforcement has stepped up its investigation,” he continued.

So what is the driving force behind Ukraine’s anti-corruption movement?

Vitaly Shabunin, director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a Ukrainian NGO, believes this is a combination of pressure from Ukrainians and foreign donors.

“Regardless of whether a government is willing to fight corruption or not, and regardless of who is in the government, no government can ignore corruption given the pressure of public opinion and the effectiveness of civil society and the media,” he says.

As an example, he cited the 2023 reshuffle of Ukraine’s government following allegations that defense officials were procuring food supplies for the Ukrainian military at inflated prices.

He told the BBC: “This scandal has caused systemic changes in defense procurement, which means there will be no corruption even if there is a change of minister.” “Corruption scandals may force state institutions to change for the better.”

Shabunin dismissed concerns that Western military aid to Ukraine could be misappropriated. “All weapons supplied by the Western allies end up in the hands of the Ukrainian army, which uses them effectively. It is impossible to steal Western weapons.”

But experts say the Ukrainian government needs to do more to root out corruption. This is especially important in times of war, Nikolov said.

“Corruption is killing us. If you want to leave without any ammunition, if you want to leave without money to buy ammunition, if you want to welcome the occupiers in Kyiv, then yes, you should turn a blind eye to corruption. But believe me, if we are occupied, they will shoot us all first. That is why the fight against corruption is a matter of survival.