For almost a year and a half the eyes of the world have been on Ukraine as the country has defended itself against Russia’s escalation of a war that has been ongoing since 2014. Ukrainian bravery and Russian corruption have been some of the factors in halting and, in some aspects, reversing the invasion that shocked the world.
However, Ukraine is facing its own serious challenge in terms of corruption. It is a challenge that will become more pressing when postwar reconstruction begins. At the recent Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted that, despite the war, Ukraine has accelerated its reform agenda with impressive speed and resolve. This progress included anti-corruption measures.
So how far has Ukraine come in fighting this issue of corruption, and as it presses towards EU membership what needs to be addressed?
A significant level of corruption was one of the consequences of the reorganisation of the political and socio-economic systems in Ukraine after the restoration of Ukraine’s independence following the breakdown of the USSR (Soviet Union) in 1991.
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It is an issue that affects the daily lives of the country’s residents in some of the most basic areas of society. The results of the 2016 Global Corruption Barometer survey show that economic development, corruption and the state of public health were perceived by the population of Ukraine as the three most important problems that the government should address.
Ukrainian citizens believed that the government was not doing enough to overcome corruption. More than 80 per cent of respondents assessed the performance of government officials as poor or very poor. While Ukraine is not alone in battling corruption – citizens of other states that were once part of the Soviet Union have also faced a similar challenge – the billions of dollars of aid provided to Ukraine by western allies has led to a more responsible attitude to the issue of fighting corruption.
Ukrainians rate economic development, corruption and the state of public health as the three biggest problems
Russia has been using corruption to attempt to destabilise political life in Ukraine long before the military invasion in 2014. One prominent case of corruption during the tenure of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych (2010-2014) and his allies was included in the Transparency International’s list of 25 corruption scandals that shook the world in 2019. According to the Anti-Corruption Action Centre in Ukraine, Yanukovych owned several tens of thousands of hectares of land, failed to declare $4.5 million in income in his last declaration, engaged in money laundering and abused his power to benefit himself and his supporters.
Russia itself is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. According to Transparency International: “Russia has become the very embodiment of a kleptocracy as corrupt high-level officials and politically-connected individuals embezzle and misappropriate public funds on a large scale.”
When the Revolution of Dignity – the 2014 protests against the pro-Russian regime and the consequences of its policy – was won and Yahukovych’s regime was overthrown, Russia launched a military invasion of eastern areas of Ukraine and occupied Crimea. Amidst the protracted war Ukrainians made every effort to implement reforms.
According to Transparency International, Ukraine currently ranks 116th out of 180 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index. While the country has yet to break into the top half of the anti-corruption league table, 10 years ago Ukraine ranked 144th. Despite nearly a decade of Russian aggression, invasion, and occupation, the country has made clear progress in its fight against corruption.
To better understand the areas that need to be addressed in the context of fighting corruption, DCU’s Anti-Corruption Research Centre conducted a survey among Ukrainian people. This was made possible thanks to the Irish Research Council’s Ukrainian Researchers Scheme which supports the careers of Ukrainian researchers who have been displaced by the Russian invasion. The results show first-hand the experiences of Ukrainian people and how corruption impacts their daily lives.
Our survey results show that Ukrainian people encounter corruption when accessing public services and during their studies. For example, some respondents claimed that “corruption is widespread in the provision of administrative services, for example, speeding up the receipt of certificates or making them easy to obtain”. Respondents said they had been extorted for bribes in healthcare: “In healthcare facilities it is often necessary to pay money to receive the necessary services in a faster time and to the extent required.”
Corruption is also an issue in education, with respondents telling us that “a gift was demanded at the university for a grade” and “you could not enter the university of your choice without a bribe”. While Ukraine has taken some steps to tackle corruption it is clear that it still impacts ordinary people going about their ordinary lives, as well as in other more non-direct ways.
Despite the difficulties of war and just months after Russia’s invasion, in June 2022 Ukraine adopted a national anti-corruption strategy that could become a solid foundation for the country’s postwar reconstruction. Ukrainians clearly appreciate that corruption is a threat to freedom and prosperity, and have shown that they are willing to stand up and fight against kleptocrats at home and abroad.
Dr Olesia Zhytkova is a postdoctoral researcher in DCU’s Anti-Corruption Research Centre. Her research interests include the contemporary history of Ukraine and the role of women in the revolutionary era.
Dr Robert Gillanders is an associate professor of economics at Dublin City University business school and co-director of the DCU Anti-Corruption Research Centre. His main research focus is the causes and consequences of corruption