Page 5 - bne IntelliNews Ukraine Country Report May 2017

2.0 Politics
2.1 Failure to tackle corruption threatens Ukraine’s
economic prospects
Failure to tackle corruption threatens Ukraine’s economic prospects . "Corruption needs to be tackled decisively. Despite the creation of new anti-corruption institutions, concrete results are yet to be achieved," the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine's main donor, said in its country report published in early April. The report reflected the disappointment among Western backers at the pace of reforms in the post-Soviet nation.
Indeed, although several high-level officials and politicians have been detained by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the prospects that they will be found guilty and punished are dubious. Among the main obstacles are a rotten judiciary and the vested political interests in the country.
For example, Mykola Martynenko, one of the most influential Ukrainian politicians and a close associate of former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, was recently arrested on suspicion of possible embezzlement of funds from a state-owned company. On April 22, however, Martynenko, a former parliamentary deputy representing the People's Front parliamentary faction, was released by a court on bail guaranteed by a formidable group of ministers, officials and lawmakers.
The arrest followed a request made by the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), another newly-created anti-graft agency, to detain Martynenko for 60 days unless he posted a UAH300mn (€10.5mn) bail.
Among those who provided personal guarantees and support to the politician in court were four incumbent ministers - Youth and Sports Minister Ihor Zhdanov, Ecology Minister Ostap Semerak, Education Minister Liliya Grynevich, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Semerak - as well as Deputy Head of the Central Election Commission Andriy Mahera and many lawmakers from the People's Front parliamentary faction.
According to local media, this weighty demonstration of political support was personally masterminded by ex-PM Yatsenyuk, who was responsible for communication with the IMF and other Western donors in 2014-2016.
In March, NABU detained the head of Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service, Roman Nasirov, who had allegedly provided restructuring of rent payments for gas production companies associated with fugitive Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Onyshchenko. Nasirov was accused of issuing an order that cost the state budget UAH2bn (€70mn). On March 3, the government suspended him from his duties, pending the results of the probe.
Later, Nasirov was released from custody in Kyiv after his wife posted the UAH100mn (€3.5mn) bail. At the same time, the SAPO asked instead to appoint a bail of UAH2bn (€70mn) for the suspended official.
Meanwhile, the IMF is warning the Ukrainian authorities that their failure to tackle endemic corruption could undermine the prospects of the country's
5 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com