Ukraine: Slow progress fighting corruption.

Since the Orange Revolution of 2005, fighting corruption has been high on the political agenda in Ukraine. But Transparency International’s (TI) recently published National Integrity System assessment (NIS) shows little progress in halting the tide of corruption.

Published by TORO, TI’s partner in Ukraine, the NIS assessment is a comprehensive analysis of the country’s anti-corruption system in law as well as in practice. Ukraine scores 2.4 in the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, which indicates widespread perceptions of corruption.

NIS assessments evaluate the key institutions and actors of a country’s governance system in terms of their internal corruption risks and their contributions to fighting corruption in society at large. When all the components of the National Integrity System function properly, corruption remains in check. Where there are gaps and weaknesses, corruption is likely to thrive.

The report shows that overall Ukraine’s integrity system is weak. The main political parties show little political will to tackle corruption through legal reforms or by addressing citizens’ concerns. There are four main areas of concern:

Lack of financial and human resources to fight corruption
Limited legal framework.
Limited enforcement
Poor interaction between institutions

The one bright spot is the Supreme Audit Institution, which outperformed all other institutions primarily because it has sufficient resources, a will to promote transparency and close relationships with similar organisations in other countries.

The report features a number of key recommendations, including stricter party financing rules and electoral reforms.