Justice Ministry announces program to fight corruption (04/20/97)

Justice Ministry announces program to fight corruption

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Acting on President Leonid Kuchma's declaration of war on corruption, the Ministry of Justice on April 11 revealed its "Clean Hands" program to fight criminal financial dealings in government structures.

The program is a comprehensive attack on corruption designed not only to ferret out the corrupt elements in government but to reorganize various sectors to make them less susceptible to criminal activity.

It comes in response to a presidential decree that resulted from an appearance by President Kuchma on February 14 before the Committee on the Fight Against Corruption and Organized Crime, during which he suggested the creation of a Clean Hands program similar to what Poland has instituted. After that speech the president fired the head of the committee for lack of progress on the problem and the ministers of agriculture and transportation for dubious financial dealings.

In recent months, corruption in Ukraine also has become a central issue in Ukraine's relations with international financial institutions and multinational corporations.

The World Bank has said it would tie continued aid to the development of a program to fight corruption. Corporations such as Coca-Cola and Motorola have had problems doing business in Ukraine because of illegal demands for financial compensation, with Motorola earlier this month opting to leave the Ukrainian market.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 1996 4,600 crimes involving "organized structures" were investigated along with more than 2,500 cases of corruption (in the form of graft, favoritism or government theft) by legislators and government officials at all levels.

In presenting the program at an April 17 press conference, Minister of Justice Serhii Holovatyi said the source of the problem is not simply the people who demand illegal payments for licenses and permits but the system itself. "How many levels of bureaucracy must a business go through to receive all the permits and licenses it requires? What's worse is that most of the required papers are the same, only the ministry or department issuing them changes," said the justice minister. "Every license is a bribe or at least an open invitation for giving or taking one." He said that ministries have systematized graft: "They require as many licenses as possible because its employees 'live' on them."

The Clean Hands program, which has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and President Kuchma, is required to be implemented for the most part by the end of 1997 with a progress review required in August 1998.

The 26-point program provides for the audit and certification of all government officials, and calls for the dismissal of those who have criminal dealings or contacts with "criminal elements."

It calls for the establishment of a national registry of laws and legal acts - something Mr. Holovatyi said he has been pursuing for some time with little support.

It also requires that all government officials submit reports on their private financial dealings and delineates the establishment of a tax inspectorate to audit the financial statements for accuracy.

The program specifies the need to reduce the number of licenses and permits issued by various ministries and for a review of administrative officials employed on local levels of the state executive apparatus, as well as the establishment of a system of employee rotation after five years for those in positions susceptible to graft.

It calls for withholding legislative immunity from deputies in the Verkhovna Rada who are accused of corruption and for the establishment of an oversight system for government officials in positions that are more prone to corruption, such as the Customs Office.

It also suggests that the Criminal Code of Ukraine be reworked to remove many insignificant crimes that backlog the judicial and penal systems, and that the court system be streamlined and a system of judicial oversight be established.

The hurdle that now must be overcome is one of implementation, and as Minister Holovatyi pointed out, that is a problem of regulation and oversight. Even though government officials will be required to fill out financial forms, Mr. Holovatyi said he foresee a problem with compliance: "Will they all fill out the declaration? And honestly? And who will ensure this?"

He noted that, even with a law on the books that requires all ministers, national deputies and other leading government officials to file statements on their financial status by March 1 of each year, only he, President Kuchma, former Vice Prime Minister Viktor Pynzenyk, Procurator General Hryhorii Vorsinov, Chairman of the Supreme Court Vitalii Boiko and a handful of deputies had done so.

He mentioned another problem: so many government officials and politicians are corrupt that there is general resistance to any system of accountability or simply to any changes in the current system.

"Many simply do not want a battle against corruption. It does not further their own interests," said the justice minister.

He showed reporters the draft programs that had been marked up with suggestions by officials of various government ministries, many suggesting a less zealous approach. "They said that this is too strict, this is being done too quickly, or that this should be softened," he explained.

Mr. Holovatyi said representatives of one ministry, which he would not name except to say that it is part of the juridical-legal system, even suggested that seven articles should not apply to them.

Customs officials, and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the security services as well as the Procurator General's Office have resisted any limitations or oversight of their work because they feel they are the solution and not the problem, said Mr. Holovatyi. "Yet these are the people are most susceptible to graft," he added.

In the end, the program's success will depend on whether a system of oversight and responsibility can be developed. "Whether it gets life depends on the people executing it. If there is no will or no mechanisms of responsibility for its non-execution, if no one is held responsible, it could die," concluded Mr. Holovatyi.

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