Episode #10 of our weekly video podcast “This Week in Ukraine” is dedicated to corruption inside Ukraine's judicial system, and how the government has tried to implement reforms to fight it.
In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, co-hosts Jakub and Nastya are speaking to Anna Myroniuk, the head of investigations at the Kyiv Independent. They discuss the complexities of reporting on Ukraine’s corruption in the current climate, offering a
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in our op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Today, the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2022 have been published. Ukraine received 33 points out of 100 possible. Our
The commercial chamber of Ukraine's Supreme Court on Oct. 3 failed to gather enough votes to fire the chamber's Chairman Bohdan Lvov. Days prior, Ukraine's Security Service confirmed that Lvov is a Russian citizen, which he continues to deny. Under Ukrainian law, foreign citizens are banned from holding government jobs.
Ukraine’s State Investigation Bureau destroyed secret materials in several major criminal investigations immediately after Russia launched its all-out invasion on Feb. 24, the Prosecutor General’s Office said, as cited on July 8 by Iryna Romaliyska, a journalist at Prague-based television channel Current Time TV. The Prosecutor General’s
A corruption case against Pavlo Vovk, Ukraine's most notorious judge, has been sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court, the anti-corruption prosecutor's office said on June 20. Vovk, head of the Kyiv District Administrative Court, has become a symbol of injustice, lawlessness, and impunity in Ukraine. Cases against him have been
A selection panel on Feb. 3 failed to nominate a chief anti-corruption prosecutor for the third time. The panel that chooses the anti-corruption prosecutor consists of four international experts and six members delegated by parliament. Three of the pro-government members failed to attend a panel meeting on Feb. 3, and
The Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office charged Petro Panteleyev, deputy head of the Kyiv City Administration, with negligence on Jan. 31. He is a long-standing ally of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Panteleyev is accused of failing to decontaminate the site of Kyiv’s former chemical plant Radikal, which according to prosecutors,
Ukraine has slipped in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released annually by the watchdog Transparency International. In 2021, Ukraine earned 32 points out of 100, one point less than in the previous year. It placed 122nd out of 180 countries analyzed. "This decline in error indicates a period of stagnation.
The High Council of Justice, the judiciary’s highest governing body, accepted the resignation of two of the council’s most controversial members on Jan. 20. The resignation of Oleksiy Malovatsky, acting head of the council, and Pavlo Grechkivsky will take effect on Jan. 26. They face numerous accusations of
Ukraine’s reform record has been bleak over the past month. Pro-government members of a selection panel have refused to appoint the winner of the contest for the chief anti-corruption prosecutor. Another contest – for the State Investigation Bureau’s head – was seen by civil society as rigged. Ukraine’s two
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 31 appointed Oleksiy Sukhachov as the head of the State Investigation Bureau, one of the main law enforcement agencies, for five years. The decision is highly controversial. Sukhachov, a loyalist of the Zelensky administration, was appointed by the president as the acting chief of the
A selection panel failed to nominate a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor for the second time on Dec. 24, triggering indignation among civil society. Kateryna Koval, head of the panel, demanded that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other state agencies conduct a second background check on Oleksandr Klymenko, who
A selection panel failed to appoint a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor at what was supposed to be its final meeting on Dec. 21. Panel members blamed a recent decision by a tainted court led by a judge suspected of corruption. What anti-corruption activists see as the latest act of sabotage
On Dec. 9, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Oleksandr Tupytsky, head of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, and Andriy Portnov, ex-deputy chief of staff for pro-Kremlin ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. Both stand accused of corruption and obstructing reforms. That was surely a great push for Ukrainian reforms and a massive blow
The selection of the country’s top anti-corruption prosecutor has come under the threat of being canceled by Ukraine's most controversial court. On Dec. 20, the Kyiv District Administrative Court ruled that the contest must be shut down. The court said in a statement that the selection committee lacks the
Yuriy Zontov, the brother of Ukraine’s most notorious judge, has been released from detention on Hr 7.6 million ($280,000) bail, the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office said on Dec. 15. Zontov is a former employee of the Foreign Intelligence Service. His brother is Pavlo Vovk, widely seen as
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has uncovered the largest operation producing fake Covid-19 documentation and distributing it throughout the whole country, according to a Dec. 14 announcement. The operation generated around $185,000 a month, based on preliminary estimates. According to documents obtained by the SBU from the alleged
Western diplomats urged Ukraine to complete key anti-corruption and judicial reforms in a quick, fair and transparent way at the “Seven Years of Anti-Corruption Reforms” conference in Kyiv on Dec. 9. The event was co-hosted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP)
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Oleksandr Tupytskyi, chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and Andriy Portnov, a former ally of pro-Kremlin Ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, on Dec. 9. Both were accused of engaging in corrupt practices including bribery, illicit influence over reforms and the judiciary, and misappropriation of assets.
Lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, co-head of the pro-Kremlin 44-member Opposition Platform - For Life faction, failed to declare assets worth over Hr 73 million ($2.7 million), the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) announced on Dec. 8. According to the agency, Medvedchuk did not declare his Kyiv land
