Corruption Perceptions Index: Ukraine shows one of the best results in the world over a year

Ukraine gained three points in the rankings of the Corruption Perception Index, one of the best results of any country in the world over the past year.

Source: Transparency International Ukraine (TIU); Andrii Borovyk, executive officer of the organisation in the column for Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "Ukraine scored 36 points out of 100 in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI); now our country ranks 104th out of 180 countries. Ukraine's growth by 3 points is one of the best results worldwide over the past year. Ukraine is also one of the 17 countries in this year's CPI that have achieved their best performance of all time.

…Since the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of major reforms, Ukraine has gained a total of 11 points over the past 10 years."

For reference: The key indicator in the Index is the number of points, rather than a country’s ranking. The lowest possible score (0 points) represents a country whose entire government has essentially been ousted by corrupt criminals, whilst the highest score (100 points) means that corruption is almost nonexistent. The index only assesses corruption in the public sector.

Details: The results of other EU candidate countries are as follows: Georgia lost 3 points (53 points, 49th), Montenegro earned 1 point (46 points, 63rd), Moldova earned 3 points (42 points, 76th), North Macedonia earned 2 points (42 points, 76th), Albania earned 1 point (37 points, 98th), Ukraine earned 3 points (36 points, 104th), Serbia's score stayed the same (36 points, tied for 104th), and Bosnia and Herzegovina gained 1 point (35 points, 108th). Türkiye scored the lowest out of all candidates for EU membership, with a decrease of 2 points (34 points, 115th).

Algeria, Brazil and Serbia are tied with Ukraine, having 36 points. Albania, Argentina, Belarus, Gambia, Ethiopia and Zambia all have 37 points. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Nepal, Panama, Sierra Leone and Thailand scored 35 points.

Among the neighbouring countries, Ukraine is even further ahead of Russia; the aggressor country lost 2 points in 2023 and ranks 141st in the list with 26 points. Belarus’ score also continues to decline; this year, it also lost 2 points, and the organisation noted a long-term declining trend in its CPI rating.

Among Ukraine’s western neighbours, Romania’s score remained unchanged (46 points, 63rd). Poland lost another point but remained one of the leaders among neighbouring countries: with 54 points, it now ranks 47th, tying with Slovenia after the country earned another point this year. Hungary’s score did not change (76th with 42 points).

The upper and lower extremes of the list in 2023’s Corruption Perceptions Index have hardly changed. Denmark tops the list with 90 points, followed by Finland with 87 points, New Zealand with 85 points, and Norway with 84 points.

The trailing countries in this year's study also remained unchanged. Somalia lost 1 point, ranking last (180th) with 11 points. South Sudan and Syria, which scored 13 points each and ranked 177th, were joined by Venezuela with the same indicators.

What impacted Ukraine’s rise in the ranking:

• The competitions to select the heads of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Asset Recovery and Management Agency of Ukraine (ARMA) have finished. The competition to select the head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) is underway.

• The High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission of Judges were renewed, and the process of selecting the five new judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has been launched.

• Most data that is legally required to be made public has been properly released in accordance with the law.

• Public procurement is mostly conducted through Prozorro [a public electronic procurement system where state and municipal customers announce tenders to purchase goods for the opportunity to become a state supplier – ed.]. However, effective control over it remains the main goal.

TIU adds that in 2023, the NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) served a number of notices of suspicion to some officials, specifically former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniaziev, former head of the State Property Fund Dmytro Sennychenko, the judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeals Viacheslav Dziubin, Yurii Slyva, Ihor Palenyk and Viktor Hlynianyi, acting Minister of Hromadas, Territories and Infrastructure Vasyl Lozynskyi, and members of parliament Serhii Labaziuk and Andrii Odarchenko.

Among the high-profile verdicts of 2023, former judge Mykola Chaus was sentenced to 10 years in prison plus restitution, and former prosecutor Dmytro Sus was sentenced to nine years in prison but had his sentence reduced to seven years by the Chamber of Appeals of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court.

TIU adds that the public had many questions about the verdicts in cases related to Boryspil Airport; ex-mayor of Poltava Oleksandr Mamai took a plea deal and transferred UAH 2 million (approx. US$52,000) to help fund the Armed Forces, as did Mykola Zlochevskyi, the former Minister of Ecology, who contributed UAH 660 million (approx. US$17.2 million) to the Armed Forces on top of a criminal fine of UAH 68,000 (approx. US$1,773).

At the same time, Andrii Borovyk, acting head of Transparency International Ukraine, stressed in a column for Ukrainska Pravda that this year, Ukraine had matched the level of corruption seen in other EU candidate states.

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