Transparency International expects government reaction to reports of corruption at NACP
The Cabinet of Ministers should respond to reports of illegal actions by the leadership of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and suspend NACP Chief Natalia Korchak from office during the investigation into abuse of office, Executive Director at Transparency International Ukraine Yaroslav Yurchyshyn has said.
"I hope very much that they [statements by an NACP employee about corrupt actions of the agency's leadership] will serve as a basis for investigation and, based on the results of the investigation, we will receive information from law enforcement agencies," Yurchyshyn said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to him, judging by the information reported, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) should deal with the investigation.
"At the time of the investigation, without naming the NACP head guilty or not guilty, according to all European standards, she must be suspended from office so that she could not influence the investigation itself," he said.
Yurchyshyn noted that the government should intervene in the situation since most of the witnesses are employees of the agency.
"The Cabinet of Ministers cannot dismiss [the NACP chief], since the legislation does not provide such an opportunity, but it can apply disciplinary sanctions - raise the issue of suspending her from office during the investigation, and if the investigation proves that the applicant, Mrs. Solomatina, makes reasonable accusations, then there will be more stringent decisions, as this will mean not only unprofessionalism, but also bias and abuse of office," he said.
"I really hope that today the Cabinet of Ministers will have a reaction and that law enforcement agencies, in this case, the NABU, will quickly proceed to investigation," he said.
As reported, Head of the Department for Financial Control and Lifestyle Monitoring at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) Hanna Solomatina said on November 14 that e-declaration checks were being falsified and asked the anti-corruption authorities to investigate the facts of illegal actions and suspend Korchak from office during the investigation into abuse of office.
