Corruption Battle Bears Fruit
Ukraine shows slow but steady progress
Incremental change in Ukraine is often difficult to discern until you consider how much the landscape has changed over the years.
Development in this former Soviet republic, which will soon celebrate 30 years of independence, has slowly but steadily progressed — sometimes two steps forward and then one step back — towards fulfilling its citizen’s demands to become a prosperous, Euro-Atlantic centered democracy. Sure, there remains a long way to go, but we mustn’t overlook how much has changed, especially in the fight against corruption.
Stemming the scourge of corruption is a core tenet of United States support, and USAID has worked with Ukraine to develop anti-corruption measures for most of the country’s 30 years. While more progress is needed, Ukraine has made dramatic gains against corruption since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, when Ukrainians took a strong stand to demand cleaner government and deeper integration with Europe and the West.
Recently, Ukraine has passed several pieces of landmark legislation that signaled a renewed commitment to fighting corruption. After decades of delays, land reform became a reality on July 1 with the passage of legislation that opens a land market, making transactions more transparent and market-oriented. This was followed a few weeks later by two laws that, if implemented properly, will clean up the High Council of Justice and pave the way for real judicial reform.
This commitment is essential for making difficult but necessary decisions, ones that may be tough to swallow in the short-term but pay tremendous dividends later in economic growth, democratic progress, and citizen confidence. USAID provided needed support to make these reforms a reality.
Civil society played a critical role in pushing for these laws, as it has in many successful efforts to fight corruption. A vibrant civil society and independent media are among the best corruption fighting tools, and over the years USAID focused on supporting institutions and systems that hold governments accountable, while promoting policies important to citizens.
A decade ago, organizations working to expose some of Ukraine’s most corrupt schemes and schemers did not exist. Now they wield tremendous influence. The Anti-Corruption Action Center, for example, has played a central role in successfully pushing for 35 key anti-corruption bills, including the creation of various government anti-corruption bodies and a financial e-declaration requirement for government officials.
USAID also helped nurture an independent media and the oversight organizations — like Detector Media and the Institute of Mass Information — that serve as effective media watchdogs, reviewing, analyzing, and critiquing TV, radio, and online content and monitoring national media trends.
Many Ukrainians also remember a time when their elections were fraught with inconsistency and fraud. Today, that has changed.
Since 2014, all substantial international election observer delegations have deemed Ukraine’s election processes as fully meeting democratic standards. USAID has done its share to ensure free and fair elections in Ukraine, providing support for modernizing election management bodies, training election commission officials, strengthening domestic electoral observation, enhancing cyber resilience in elections, and strengthening political finance regulation and oversight.
USAID’s efforts have also made higher education more accessible. Prior to 2008, if you asked Ukrainian university applicants or their parents to honestly explain the surest way to university admissions, most would have noted that informal payments and influence-seeking provided the golden keys. USAID helped change that by developing standardized testing that has provided millions of high school graduates corruption-free access to higher education.
Ukraine has also harnessed the power of technology to enhance transparency and accountability. ProZorro, a public procurement online database for government purchases, introduced transparency into the Government of Ukraine’s previously opaque processes, saving the government upwards of $6 billion since 2016. USAID provided the lion’s share of financial and technical support to make the system a reality.
Digitization holds tremendous promise in national efforts to make government services more secure, transparent, and corruption-free. Now Ukrainians can increasingly rely on their electronic devices to obtain government services after USAID support helped develop and launch Ukraine’s DIIA eServices portal. They can use DIIA, which means “action,” to easily and remotely apply for pension benefits, renew driver’s licenses, and even make an appointment for a COVID vaccination.
A Ministry of Digital Transformation commissioned survey found that use of online services led to about $20 million in annual savings and that 78 percent of respondents believe that these e-services reduced corruption in government purchasing.
Beating corruption means defeating it where Ukrainians feel it most, such as in health care. In 2016, USAID began working with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and others to make health care more efficient, effective, and less corrupt. Today, the health care system has a broad universal public financing strategy that has enrolled more than three-quarters of Ukrainians. A new medical Central Procurement Agency saved the country $36 million in pharmaceutical purchases in 2020 alone through independent, competitive tendering.
Finally, Ukrainians have embraced government decentralization reform, which is shrinking the distance between authorities and constituents and increasing citizens’ ability to hold leaders accountable. USAID support made local governments more accessible and empowered citizens to become partners in local decision making.
The changes I’ve described have occurred slowly, over time, with each step building on the previous one. Today Ukraine is better equipped to confront the challenges of corruption.
As Ukraine celebrates 30 years of independence, now is the time to nip retrenchment in the bud, complete reform of Ukraine’s judicial system to ensure everyone access to fair and impartial justice, and consolidate health system reforms to improve quality and reduce informal payments.
Ukraine is well along its European path in further strengthening its democracy and upholding the rule of law. We salute Ukraine on its 30th anniversary! We will continue to stand with you as you fight corruption and those malign actors who seek to hold back the progress you deserve.
About the Author
James Hope is the Mission Director at USAID’s Mission in Ukraine.
