Zelensky urges Rada to approve anti-corruption strategy for 2020-2024
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky chaired a meeting of the National Council for Anti-Corruption Policy, at which the draft Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2020-2024 was discussed, the presidential press service said.
"The anti-corruption strategy should become the foundation for combating corruption. The anti-corruption strategy is a system of measures, the implementation of which can ensure the coordination of the work of law enforcement, anti-corruption state agencies at the national and local levels," Zelensky said.
He said that this strategy provides for specific measures to ensure the inevitability of punishment for acts of corruption.
"Based on the results of the meeting of the National Council on Anti-Corruption Policy, the president called on the MPs to consider the bill on the foundations of State Anti-Corruption Policy for 2020-2024 as soon as possible," the press service said in the statement.
According to the head of state, since 2018, Ukraine has lacked the main strategic document in the field of combating corruption, which is one of the reasons for the low efficiency of the activities of anti-corruption agencies.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that on September 21, the Cabinet of Ministers approved and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada the bill on the foundations of State Anti-Corruption Policy for 2020-2024, which should approve the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2020-2024. Bill No. 4135 has already been registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
"Conceptual approaches to the formation of anti-corruption policy are a combination of the principles of further improving the overall system of preventing and combating corruption and minimizing corruption in the areas of highest priority in terms of overcoming corruption, including through reforms in the economic, social, medical, educational, and law enforcement sectors. Practically, every area is covered by this strategy," the prime minister said.
The strategy contains five main principles: optimizing the functions of state agencies and eliminating their duplication, digital transformation and open data, convenient and legal services, intolerance of corruption among the population, and ensuring the inevitability of punishment.
The strategy identifies eight main areas that are needed: court, prosecutor's office, police; state regulation of the economy; public and private sectors of the economy; taxes and customs; construction, land, infrastructure; defense sector; healthcare, social protection; the system of preventing and combating corruption in general.
Head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention Oleksandr Novikov, who presented the draft strategy, said that the MPs must approve the relevant bill by the beginning of October, and within three months the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, together with the government, will develop an action plan to implement the strategy.
"After the implementation of the document, losses from corruption will decrease by UAH 200 billion per year. This, in turn, will contribute to greater investment attraction," the presidential press service said in the statement.
"In a year or two, every citizen of Ukraine will feel noticeable results from its implementation, that is, in December 2021. In general, its term is five years. By 2025, the final assessment of the Anti-Corruption Strategy is envisaged," Novikov said.