Committee of Voters critical of system of political party funding

Political parties in Ukraine, according to a spokesperson from the Committee of Voters of Ukraine [CVU] widely exceed the electoral funds restricted by law and get away with it.

Effectiveness of the Ukrainian system for financing political parties and election campaigns from the point of view of European standards is one of the key themes of an international conference on Prevention of political corruption organized as part of cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Europe.

CVU’s Oleksandr Chernenko explains that civic observers have recommended abolishing the norm of the law restricting election funding, but strengthening liability of parties for grey-area use of election funds. “If we have a shadow economy and corruption in other spheres, then politics and the elections are no exception. It’s enough to recall the recent Kyiv elections where huge amounts were spent on direct bribing of voters, with people receiving cash in hand.” Mr Chernenko believes that not only the public, but the party leaders themselves don’t know how much the elections cost them due to the varied sources of their financing and other factors. He adds that the law enforcement agencies should help the public in restricting the shadow use of election funds.