Without IMF and EU loans Ukrainian economy won’t be able to support the army in its defense against the enemy; neither will it be able to protect people from cold and hunger. Practically all experts interviewed by The Day are of the same opinion. Moreover, the results of survey presented recently by the International Center of Perspective Surveys are proof of this.
The Day has written many times that the international financial donors are ready to help Ukraine and will do so, but only in the case they will have the guaranties that the money will reach its destination, not be accumulated in the pockets of the statesmen and be later used for building “Mezhyhiria new edition” or car parks with Bentleys and Maseratis.
It is written in black and white in the set of requirements for receiving further financial aid from the EU (100 million Euros) and IFM (nearly 1.4 billion US dollars) by Ukraine that Ukraine must create an independent law-enforcement body which will expose corruption in the higher echelons of power, the National Bureau of Anti-Corruption Investigation (NBAR). It will be noted that the IMF has not removed this requirement, like it removed some others due to the complicated political situation.
It will be reminded that the public, in particular, the experts from the Anti-Corruption Action Center have been lobbying the establishment of such an institution for a long time. But the question is too painful for many people on whom the creation of such a body depends, according to current Ukrainian legislation: members of government, MPs, etc. It is one thing when a minister who makes 12,000 UAH per month and lives in an estate that costs three million dollars in a country where there is no one who can hold him accountable, and it is quite a different thing when there is an effective independent law-enforcement body which will have to ask: where did you get the money for this kind of house or that kind of a car?
Six months ago, even after the “victory” of Euromaidan, it was absolutely unreal to make current parliament adopt a law which would establish such an independent law-enforcement body and be a watchdog for every minister, MP, and the president. The VRU car park is a guaranty of such confidence. But today the country, especially its treasury, has found itself in a situation when you can’t refuse from donors’ help. With empty pockets and no external support, the state will be an easy game for those who opened fire in the Donbas.
It would seem that everyone realizes this. But the fact is that personal interests are a stubborn thing. That is the very reason why we are exceeding all time limits set by donor organizations; the decision on creation of the NAB has been for half a year postponed by the power.
Last time we heard about the Anti-Corruption Reform from the Presidential Administration. They said on that day they were drafting a presidential version of a bill on a specialized anti-corruption body and would soon submit it to parliament for consideration.
From verified sources The Day found out that the president was supposed to register his version of a draft law on creation of the NAB. And last Thursday the VRU was supposed to take a vote on it. But he did not do that. The Executive Director of Transparency International Ukraine Oleksii KHMARA wrote on his FB page, “Today the teams of Transparency International Ukraine and the Anti-Corruption Action Center were waiting for the president to register the bill on anti-corruption bureau in parliament, but to no avail. At the last moment Petro Poroshenko decided to change something in the text again. This has taken a day of editorial work. It will need a couple more days to agree these corrections with the partners in government and parliament. To cut the long story short, the parliament won’t take a vote on this draft law last Thursday for sure. So, only two possibilities remain for us to vote for this bureau in this composition of the parliament. The parliament decided that it is ready to work plenary only on September 16 and October 14. These are the only two days when it will be possible to vote for the law. My colleagues and I consider that we have no right to miss these two last opportunities to create the bureau this year.”
WHAT WILL THE BUREAU DO?
What “terrible” and “excessive” things do the international donors demand from the Ukrainian power?
The Anti-Corruption Action Center told The Day that the IFM not only demands to create a National Bureau of Anti-Corruption Investigations, but, according to the text of the resolution of the IMF mission which is present on the official website of the institution, the organization insists that three more crucial conditions should be fulfilled.
Firstly, the National Bureau should investigate only the corruption in the top echelons of power. Its “clients” should be the state officials of the first and second ranks (ministers, deputy minister, prosecutors, head of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine, etc). The NAB should by no means investigate into minor office corruption, like the bribers in road police. This regulation is being written with an aim to avoid the risk of blocking the body by current affairs that won’t have any crucial influence on combating corruption in the country.
Secondly, the executives of the National Bureau must be politically independent. The head of the NAB must be selected on the conditions of transparency and competition by a commission that will include representatives of both power, and the opposition. For example, the public (the experts of the Anti-Corruption Action Center together with the specialists of the Ministry of Justice and parliamentary committee on combating corruption and organized crime) suggest that this commission should include three representatives from the opposition, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the president each. They will consider the CVs of the candidates for the office of the head of the National Bureau, check whether they meet the qualification requirements, etc. And later they will interview the selected candidates live on television. According to their proposal, after the commission selects the candidate, his appointment will be confirmed by the Cabinet of Ministers or the President. Therefore it is impossible to remove the head of the Bureau on political motives (by vote of no confidence), a condition that will guaranty the lack of political pressure on him. The bureau will report to the Council of Civil Control. And the members of the council will have the power to control the activity of the Bureau from inside. Apart from that, the information concerning the results of the activity of the NAB will be published on the website of the body where everyone will be able to see the real number of launched and sent to court criminal cases against TOP officials.
Thirdly, the Criminal and Criminal Procedure codes will have to include the definition of a new crime: illicit enrichment.
Currently, even when it is clear that the expenses of a state official many times overcome his official incomes (for example, tax inspectorate official with a 10,000 salary drives his own Bentley), it is practically impossible to hold him accountable. The investigator should prove that his assets are of illegal origin, which is in fact unreal. After the article “illicit enrichment” appears, it won’t be the investigator who will have to find out where the state official’s money comes from, but the state official will have to prove that his income is legal. If he is unable to do this, he will face criminal responsibility plus confiscation of the property. Moreover, Vitallii Shabunin noted in a commentary to The Day, the corruptioners won’t be able to hind behind the backs of their wealthy wives, friends, and other benefactors, on whose names they usually registered all the estates, cars, and other assets. “If the investigator is able to prove that the suspect uses an expensive car every day, the latter will be trialed in court where he will have to explain where he took the money for this car,” says the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Action Center.
The IMF will be unsatisfied with any edition of the law on the National Bureau that won’t include these regulations and may block the transfer of funds. But this is not the most important thing. “Unless this body is created, it will be impossible to overcome corruption in our country,” Shabunin is sure, “the rest will be a primitive imitation of the process, or ‘pawns’ who don’t decide anything and are merely executioners of corrupt top officials will be held responsible, like before.”
The time is ticking. Less time is left with every passing day. And we are saying this not only because according to the terms of the agreement with the IMF Ukraine must approve the law on creation of the National Bureau of Anti-Corruption Investigations before the end of October of 2014. Mr. President, what did you say about Lee Kuan Yew?
