There are no exceptions to anti-corruption legislation, - Artem Sytnyk
Compliance with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation is mandatory for every official, regardless of position or political connections. This was emphasized by the NABU Director Artem Sytnyk at the panel discussion “Protecting the economy from the influence of organized crime” in the framework of the V Kharkiv International Legal Forum, held on September 20, 2021.
"Why is anti-corruption reform important? A thing that nobody could ever believe happened. New investigations appeared that one could hardly imagine 10 years ago. Now, none of the government officials is immune to anti-corruption investigation. Everyone should understand that there are no exceptions to the anti-corruption legislation for anyone”, Artem Sytnyk said.
The participants of the panel discussed the problems that hinder Ukraine from realizing its potential, in particular corruption and the fight against organized crime.
The NABU Director stressed that the National Bureau investigate corruption abuses at strategic enterprises in the energy, engineering, mining and space industries, defense industry, land relations, transport, infrastructure projects etc. For the seventh year in a row, the prevention and exposure of corruption abuses at these state enterprises has been a priority in the work of NABU Detectives.
“There is a huge problem with corruption at state enterprises. SEs are a traditional center of political corruption, where funds are legalized through offshore zones. NABU exposes corruption at state enterprises, but without eliminating the conditions conducive to the commission of corruption crimes, this process is endless,” Artem Sytnyk said.
The NABU Director reminded that the losses from corruption crimes investigated by NABU Detectives exceed UAH 90 billion. Most of this amount is losses caused to enterprises in which state ownership is more than 50%.
He stressed that an effective tool to prevent such offences is the reform of state property, the appointment of heads of state enterprises on the basis of transparent public competition and the formation of independent supervisory boards.
For reference
Kharkiv International Legal Forum was established in 2017 as an open international platform to discuss issues most relevant to the global legal community.
Today the Forum is the only legal event that, in 2018, was given a status of a national event by the Order № 656-р of Cabinet Ministers of Ukraine “About holding the Kharkiv International Legal Forum”, supported by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University.
