The International Monetary Fund has obliged Ukraine to resume electronic declaration by the end of July for officials who are not mobilized and do not participate in hostilities.
This follows from a statement by the IMF, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
Respective IMF's memorandum defines the conditions for Ukraine to receive the largest loan the Fund has ever issued to a country in a state of high-intensity war (USD 15.6 billion).
Ukraine undertook to fulfill a number of requirements, including the restoration of the mandatory declaration of wealth by officials.
It concerns the resumption of mandatory declaration, which was stopped at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, and the resumption of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) function to verify declarations.
According to the document, the corresponding law should be adopted by the end of July 2023.
It is assumed that the restoration of the obligation of the electronic declaration during martial law will affect civil servants who are not mobilized and do not directly participate in hostilities.
The memorandum contains an obligation to ensure, by the end of October, the automation of entering information into declarations from other state registers and databases for transparent and simplified declaration during the period of martial law.
It is also noted that consultations with parties concerned will be held later to explore the possibility of publishing, during martial law, generalized information about the assets and liabilities of officials holding positions of increased and especially high responsibility under the Law On Prevention of Corruption.
This is necessary to balance the need for transparency and personal safety protection.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SACPO) will be given full, direct, and confidential access to the submitted declarations, contributing to the investigation of corruption, bribery, and illegal enrichment. After the lifting of martial law, the declaration will be fully restored, including the renewed requirement for disclosure of information by all civil servants, as well as verification of assets based on risk assessment according to the data specified in the declaration and public access to all declarations.
"The NACP has long insisted on restoring declarations and checks while simultaneously believing that until the end of martial law, sensitive information from the register of declarations should still be closed to public access. Bill 8071 on the restoration of mandatory declaration for almost eight months awaits consideration in the Verkhovna Rada. Still, people's deputies have not yet been ready to adopt it. This bill considers the specifics of wartime conditions, and there is no danger for the declarants," the NACP reported.
Now the declaration is voluntary, and more than 350,000 public servants have already submitted declarations for 2021 by their own choice.
The restoration of the obligation to declare is critically necessary because a significant part of the declarants still has not submitted a declaration, even for 2021.
At the same time, there are risks of hiding wealth during martial law, including misappropriation of funds intended for reconstruction or humanitarian aid, as well as the expiration of the terms of prosecution for false declaration for the year 2021.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, proposes to the parliament to resume electronic declaration and verification of declarations was stopped during martial law.
The IMF gives Ukraine UAH 15.6 billion for urgent needs.
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