Why Ukrainian Officials Wanted to Appear Honest in E-Declarations

08 November 2016 16:53

The new e—returns system has proved to be a major step forward for Ukraine. Prosecuting individuals deemed to have attained wealth or assets illegally is the next challenge

✅ Late October 30 was the deadline for over 50,000 Ukrainian civil servants to declare their expensive assets and incomes as part of reforms pushed by the E.U. and International Monetary Fund

✅ Sevgil Musaieva-Borovyk: Over the last year, ‘our officials, our authorities did everything possible to destroy e-declarations’

✅ Independent agencies such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption will ultimately be responsible for investigating the declarations

✅ Sevgil Musaieva-Borovyk: They have a chance to change things in our country

Late October 30 was the deadline for the first wave of Ukrainian civil servants to declare their assets and incomes as part of an IMF-backed reform that mandates public officials to declare, in detail, their property, expensive items, and financial holdings. Over 50,000 officials submitted their e-returns.

According to Sevgil Musaieva-Borovyk, Editor-in-Chief at Ukrainska Pravda, the officials attempted to be honest in their declarations because ‘they are afraid’. With the rise of independent anti-corruption bureaus in Ukraine, Musaieva-Borovyk says that over the last year, ‘our officials, our authorities did everything possible to destroy e-declarations.’ However, in the end, they went through with the declarations and showed everything possible.

Independent agencies such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) will ultimately be responsible for investigating the declarations.

“They have a chance to change things in our country,” says Ms. Musaieva-Borovyk, even though Natalia Korchak, the head of the NAPC was recently accused of mishandling money herself. “It’s important for those agencies to keep transparency,” she adds.

Hromadske’s Josh Kovensky and Tamara Rozouvan spoke to Sevgil Musaieva-Borovyk, Editor-in-Chief at Ukrainska Pravda during the live broadcast of The Sunday Show on November 6th, 2016 in Kyiv.