Kateryna

Ryzhenko

Deputy Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine for Legal Affairs

During the war, the anti-corruption ecosystem continued its work, grew stronger, and produced results. TI Ukraine closely monitored all processes, helped it stabilize, and provided expert support at various levels. 

In particular, our legal department thoroughly monitored legislative initiatives designed to resolve problems related to the fight against corruption. The 38 draft laws that we analyzed included documents on the management of the seized assets and confiscation of russian assets, restoration of declaration, various aspects of reconstruction, privatization, etc. We also participated in the development and analysis of 29 regulatory acts related to, among other things, the powers of the NACP, the ARMA, the topic of procurement, privatization and lease.

In 2022, the Anti-Corruption Strategy of Ukraine for 2021-2025 was finally adopted. This document should help reduce the level of corruption in Ukraine. From the very beginning, we were directly engaged in its creation. We also focused our attention at another important document — the State Anti-Corruption Program (SAP), which will allow implementing the Anti-Corruption Strategy. It has been adopted already in 2023, and we will continue to provide an expert assessment of the implementation of this document and closely monitor its realization in the areas of our strategic priorities.

Even during the war, important personnel changes took place in the anti-corruption bodies, which Transparency International Ukraine monitored, analyzed, and communicated. The team of lawyers analyzed the applicants for these important positions and referred their opinions to the selection commissions, which considered them during the selection.

Thus, in summer, Oleksandr Klymenko was appointed head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. TI Ukraine monitored this competition, analyzed the candidates and the work of the commission. Together with the international community, we stimulated the competition to keep up with the schedule from the very beginning. In autumn, a competition was also held to select 8 prosecutors to the SAPO. Nataliia Sichevliuk, legal advisor of TI Ukraine, joined the commission to select new prosecutors; the team of our lawyers, for its part, analyzed the personal profiles of 112 candidates for these positions.

Meanwhile, the competition for the selection of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) head continued. In the same way, TI Ukraine experts analyzed the regulatory framework of the commission's work (regulations and procedure), and then the dossier of all 10 candidates who were selected. However, in September, the Cabinet of Ministers prolonged the competition for the election of the ARMA head, and the competition was restarted per se. As of the beginning of 2023, it is still ongoing, and we very much hope that this year, a professional and honest winner will finally be chosen and appointed to this post.

The selection of a new head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau was also important. From the beginning, we actively monitored the work of the commission and communicated our conclusions. After the applicants passed the tests and practical tasks, we analyzed the profiles of 22 candidates, whose interviews we monitored especially thoroughly. The NABU director was appointed on March 6, 2023.

The TI Ukraine team also continued to monitor high-profile corruption cases at various stages — from serving with charges to the verdict in the High Anti-Corruption Court. For example, in 2022, we presented a study on the work of the Anti-Corruption Court based on monitoring and analysis of its work during martial law. Over the year, we followed, analyzed, and communicated over 40 cases of corruption offenses, civil forfeiture, and confiscation of assets under the sanctions law.

Our lawyers in these turbulent times continued sharing their experience and knowledge:

• they were speakers or participants at 14 public events (events, discussions, lectures); 
• they prepared 45 blogs, articles, analyses.

The full-scale war has struck the whole Ukraine and requires quick solutions and clear concepts for resolving crisis situations. Therefore, the TI Ukraine team prepared 2 policy papers during the year, revealing our vision of further actions in the field of anti-corruption: the first was presented at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington (USA), and the second — at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano.

“The anti-corruption ecosystem not only proved its resilience in times of the full-scale invasion, but also continued to produce results. This is a joint victory of many stakeholders and employees of these bodies. We understand that there is a war going on in the country, and it may seem that anti-corruption efforts are irrelevant. However, the internal enemy can be very dangerous because it acts from the inside, so it is now crucial to ensure the fight against corruption because by minimizing it, we grow stronger.“

Olena

Ogorodnik

Transparent Cities Program Manager (Transparency International Ukraine)

2022 traditionally began for us with the assessment of transparency and accountability of Ukrainian cities, but we published the results of this analysis after the beginning of the full-scale war. In spring, TI Ukraine presented the fifth Transparency Ranking of the 100 largest cities and Accountability Ranking of 50 cities of Ukraine. In it, our experts recorded the development and progress of municipalities to return to their reconstruction and improvement after the victory. 

The leading city in both rankings in 2021 was Mariupol. In the Cities Transparency Ranking, for the first time in the history of the assessment, five cities crossed the 80-point mark at once. In addition to Mariupol (91 points), the top five in 2021 included Lviv (85), Dnipro (84), Drohobych, (83) and Mukachevo (81). The top five leaders of accountability were Mariupol, Dnipro, Ternopil, Lviv, and Bakhmut. In 2021, the average accountability rate in all 50 cities increased by 29% and amounted to 16 points.

With the beginning of the war, the work of Transparent Cities shifted to the war footing. Experts of TI Ukraine in this direction channeled their resources to what was useful to the country. We launched the Emergency Support Fund for Cities, helping Izium, Kupiansk, Kherson, Lyman, Pokrov, Chernihiv, Chuhuiv, and Lviv. Over a million hryvnias was used to purchase generators, electric heaters, power banks, laptops, and other necessary equipment for arranging heating points and supporting citizens.

The Transparent Cities team also focused on analytics and research. As a result, we provided relevant recommendations to local self-government bodies to support business in the conditions of martial law, work with open data, ensure transparency in the housing sector, etc.

• We conducted a study of the state of regulatory policy and economic development of cities in the context of war. 
• We studied the international experience of regulating rental prices and its effectiveness as well as the risks associated with government intervention.
• We analyzed what problems had arisen in the field of housing policy before the war, what temporary solutions are available, and what changes should be implemented in the future.
• We conducted a study of the publication of open data in war conditions in 18 regional centers of Ukraine.
• We researched the topic of international twinning, the scope and possibilities of assistance, and popularized this tool among cities.
• We analyzed the process of derussification of cities and its features in Ukraine.

Transparent Cities program is also working on reconstruction. Together with TI Ukraine, the project team joined the RISE Ukraine coalition of CSOs as two separate initiatives to ensure integrity, sustainability, and effectiveness of Ukraine's reconstruction. The team also joined the working group of the project “russia will pay“ (KSE Institute) on recording and assessing losses caused by russia.

In summer, TI Ukraine experts visited the World Urban Forum in Katowice, where they presented the experience of the Transparent Cities program. Participation in the forum helped adopt the best world experience of transformation and recovery, which the team subsequently advocated in Ukrainian cities.

We analyzed 15 world cases of reconstruction, adapted international experience, and formed recommendations for Ukrainian cities. We studied the unique concepts of recovery, typical mistakes and the ways they were solved in Germany, Japan, Poland, the countries of the Balkan Peninsula.

The team adapted the study of the transparency of local authorities to the conditions of martial law. We created an Assessment Methodology containing 40 criteria. The goal is to analyze the transparency of local authorities and provide relevant recommendations to promote their resilience.

“Ukrainian rear cities withstood the first and most difficult months of the invasion, endured a number of difficulties of the war. However, the fight for victory continues. A significant part of the occupied settlements were liberated, but many large cities, towns, and villages are still captured by the enemy. The destruction of housing and infrastructure due to active hostilities is catastrophic. We have a lot of work ahead of us, so the help and support of foreign partners is critical!“

Volodymyr

Datsenko

Project Manager of Innovation Projects Program of Transparency International Ukraine

It is fundamentally important for Ukraine to properly prepare for post-war reconstruction. It is imperative for us to provide the architecture and tools for solutions that build trust on the part of the society and Western partners, and prevent the risks of inefficient use of funds and abuse. 

To this end, Transparency International Ukraine co-founded a coalition of Ukrainian organizations and international partners — RISE Ukraine. The association promotes 10 principles of reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine. They have already received support of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), and other leading state institutions.

Moreover, TI Ukraine specialists developed a concept of Ukraine's restoration. In it, we proposed the architecture of the reconstruction process, which should minimize the risks in the implementation of reconstruction projects. Such projects should be implemented as openly and transparently as possible, using electronic systems for identifying the project life cycle.

We analyzed the first regulatory acts in the field of reconstruction, in particular, draft law No.7198 on compensation mechanisms for lost housing.

Our experts also held a dozen meetings on the implementation of effective reconstruction of Ukraine with representatives of civil society, international organizations, and coalitions, i.e. with experts from the University of Basel and Princeton, ambassadors of partner countries, and state stakeholders.

At the same time, TI Ukraine is trying to introduce the best practices into the Ukrainian reconstruction project. Therefore, we regularly study the experience of other countries’ reconstruction, assess ways to ensure efficient implementation of reconstruction projects, coordination of donor efforts, and effective allocation of resources between needs.

“Reconstruction will be a huge challenge for Ukraine and a test for the resilience of our institutions. These are going to be thousands of projects, hundreds of billions of dollars of assistance from international partners and private investment. We will need to coordinate everything, ensure transparency and accountability. We insist that Ukraine needs to provide safeguards against corruption in reconstruction processes and ensure that there are no abuses“.