The assessment of the level of Ukraine's fight against corruption in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) was improved by three points - to a record high in the country's history 36 points out of 100 possible, which allowed Ukraine to rise from 116 to 104 place in the ranking of 180 countries, says the report of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International.

"Ukraine has demonstrated a good result this year and progressive dynamics in 10 years. Now we have reached the indicators of the EU candidate countries... We have developed an anti-corruption ecosystem from scratch and already have real sentences for high-profile corruption, but we still need to work hard to catch up with the performance of the EU countries," the message quotes the words of Transparency International executive director Andriy Borovyk.

At the same time, he noted that if cases of pressure on journalists and members of the public continue, if the authorities interfere in various areas of government, and corruption scandals related to defense do not subside, Ukraine could very quickly lose its achievements.

According to the study, Ukraine's growth by 3 points is one of the best results over the past year in the world. Ukraine also became one of 17 countries in the current CPI that demonstrated their best performance of all time.

According to the study, Algeria, Brazil and Serbia have the same score. Albania, Argentina, Belarus, Gambia, Ethiopia and Zambia were one point ahead of Ukraine.

The world leaders in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index are Denmark with 90 points, Finland with 87 points, New Zealand with 85 points and Norway with 84 points.

Among the outsiders in this year's study are Somalia (lost 1 point and with 11 points occupies the last 180th place), South Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, which scored 13 points each and share 177th place.

Transparency International emphasized that Ukraine was able to achieve such results by focusing on reforms of the justice system, taking into account the restructuring of judicial self-government and increasing the independence of the judiciary.

According to the organization, efforts to strengthen the capacity and independence of its Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and Anti-Corruption Prosecution Authority (APA) – coupled with the national anti-corruption strategy and its comprehensive implementation program – have provided a strong basis for the ongoing fight against corruption. Progress is also evidenced by the active participation of civil society, such as the reaffirmation of the requirement for government officials to file electronic declarations of their assets.

Transparency International also added that public procurement in Ukraine remains largely competitive and is recognized by the World Bank, and government efforts, especially in the area of reconstruction, have played an important role in strengthening accountability and control.

Despite these improvements, the existence of a significant number of high-level corruption cases remains a serious problem. The government's efforts to combat high-level corruption, including through dismissals and criminal proceedings, demonstrate its commitment to tackling the problem. The study said this also shows that existing systems are functional and capable of detecting such cases. However, they highlight current challenges and the need for sustainable and comprehensive anti-corruption measures for Ukraine to achieve full reform and European integration.

Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev positively assessed these results and set a goal for the next ten years to add another 11 points in this ranking.

"It seems to me that this is a very good result and a good answer to everyone's reproaches about how bad everything is here. To be generally leaders in the global fight against corruption over the past 10 years, we would need to add another 5 points, as in Uzbekistan. Then we would have an index now not of 36 points, but of 41, like Kosovo, South Africa or Vietnam. This means having reasonable, realistic expectations," he wrote on Facebook.