A minimum majority in the Verkhovna Rada (226 MPs) has managed to pass an important law opening up information about public procurement and revoking legislative moves under the previous administration which hid vast amounts of public funding from public view

The Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday passed one important law on increasing transparency of public procurement and then proved incapable of passing another law which would have prevented concealment of real estate ownership

According to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, Ukraine’s record has only improved by 9 points over the last 20 years and is ranked 155th out of 178 countries in the study, and the worst out of 43 countries in Europe

These include "extremely muddled laws which are also not understood by the public. And that makes it possible to abuse them"

On Sept. 17 the Kyiv Court of Appeal issued a ruling in favour of passengers inconvenienced over the breakdown of the much-vaunted Hyundai trains

The Cabinet of Ministers has adopted Standard Provisions for anti-corruption units to be formed in all executive bodies which will however answer to the heads of those bodies making the point of the exercis rather questionable

The government is proposing to create yet another controlling body. Small business owners complain that all the checks cost them too much, while consumers do not feel any particular benefit from the work of the state regulatory bodies

The drop in its position is seen in most areas identified, but most of all with respect to macroeconomic stability. The report warns that in the absence of reforms the situation will get even worse

Liga.net reports that according to the World Bank’s Doing Business rating, Ukraine has the highest rate of taxes in the world with the average Ukraine business paying 28 types of tax a year.

Miners from Pervomaisk in the Luhansk oblast on 21 August began a protest march, initially to Luhansk, under the banner “Donbas, Rise from your knees!” They’re owed 8 million UAH

Ekonomichna Pravda has published details about social benefits and pensions in Ukraine which show that former MPs receive a pension 10.5 times higher than the average for the country. A former judge’s pension is five times higher

Oleksy Shalaisky, Editor of the public spending watchdog Nashi Hroshi [ Our Money] says that journalist investigations do lead to corrupt set ups and machinations being terminated.

The District Administrative Court in Kyiv, under Judge Arina Lytvynova, upheld the refusal by the Verkhovna Rada Office to provide members of the public with copies of MPs’ income declarations

The authors propose removing the right to free travel on public transport (minimal cost and largely theoretical), but have changed their mind about fining MPs for missing parliamentary sessions or committee meetings without good reason

According to Transparency International’s Coordinator for Post-Soviet Countries, Ukraine’s government is fighting corruption in word alone. She says that it has not undertaken any serious reform in recent years and simply makes promises which the public has stopped believing.

The State Industrial Inspectorate has seen a sharp increase in the number of safety infringements on mines, with private mines, including those owned by Akhmetov, which are profit-making being the worst offenders

Mailis Reps, the author of the Resolution told the Deutsche Welle Ukrainian Service that although Yanukovych made the fight against corruption one of the slogans in his presidential campaign, there has been no particular progress over the last few years.

On Tuesday the Verkhovna Rada was unable to cancel lifelong pay, State dachas and medical care for former Heads of State; the perks previously received by Verkhovna Rada Speakers; or restrict MPs’ pension benefit

On Tuesday Ukraine’s parliament adopted a law on implementing State anti-corruption policy, and rejected two draft bills aimed at strengthening that same anti-corruption policy

During 2012 the President’s Administration paid 100 thousand UAH to Tantalit - a firm believed to have links with the Yanukovych family - for renting an office for Viktor Yanukovych in the latter’s sumptuous residence at Mezhyhirya.