GRECO unimpressed by Ukraine’s efforts against corruption
At a meeting of foreign companies working in Ukraine on Tuesday, the President of GRECO (the Group of States against Corruption), Drago Kos said that his organization sees no improvement in Ukraine’s efforts to fight corruption. He says that Ukraine has not taken into account or implemented GRECO’s previous recommendations nor 28 conclusions from the international experts on fighting corruption in the country.
Drago Kos points out that the package of anti-corruption laws is not being applied. “Any real fight against corruption is not noticeable. Some institutions are created and that’s it. It looks as though something is being done, but in fact nothing is happening. He mentioned that the Council of Europe has doubts as to whether it is expedient to allocate funds for the second anti-corruption project in Ukraine UPAC.
He says that foreign investors have to adapt to local conditions where corruption is fairly widespread. In order to counter this, GRECO’s President calls on these investors to create an alliance of business, the Ukrainian government and law enforcement officers to create to corruption.
Government official on Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy, Andriy Bohdan says that the public and international organizations are not putting enough pressure on Ukrainian politicians so that the fight against corruption ceases to be only on paper. “Politicians, deputies, government officials take decisions which may not suit them only under public pressure. We do not have a situation in Ukraine where the public are demanding that these anti-corruption laws come into force”.
In November Ukraine is due to submit a report to GRECO on implementation of the latter’s recommendations.