The Kyiv Independent’s head of investigations, Anna Myroniuk, spoke before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament on the challenges of the upcoming Ukraine reconstruction on May 23.
Myroniuk spoke alongside other Ukraine representatives, including Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin and former Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko.
The session touched upon the necessity of transparency in reconstruction efforts, strengthening Ukraine's judiciary and law enforcement to protect foreign investment, as well as enhancing foreign donors' control of the funds they provide to Ukraine for recovery.
“When we are talking about the reconstruction, it’s important to apply principles that are applied when Ukraine receives funds from, for example, IMF, meaning conditionalities. It’s important to trust one another, however, it’s great when we can not only rebuild Ukraine but simultaneously invest in reforms in Ukraine,” Myroniuk said.
When speaking about the sources of funds for Ukraine’s recovery, Myroniuk stressed that it should be financed from Russia's pocket.
“Confiscating Russian assets is vital. As I guess nobody is that keen to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine for Russia. Russia demolished Ukrainian cities and must be taken to account for that and be the one financing this reconstruction.”
Prosecutor General Kostin used the opportunity to highlight the importance of Russia's accountability. He said that while his office investigates perpetrators, meaning Russian soldiers, for committing war crimes, the ultimate goal is to charge Russian leaders.
“The most important for us is, of course, to make accountable real top leaders of this war, the so-called trio, Russian President Vladimir Putin, prime minister and minister of defense, together with the high-level officials in military and politics. Of course, for this, international instruments are needed to fill the gap in the international accountability system,” Kostin said.
Iryna Matviyishyn
