Page 6 - bne IntelliNews Ukraine Country Report May 2017

economic growth. According to the multinational lender's research paper published in April, if Kyiv is unable to decrease the level of corruption, per capita GDP will be only about 30% of the EU average in 2040.
At the same time, if Ukraine is able to reduce corruption to the EU average, per capita GDP is projected to exceed 50% of the EU average in the same year.
The multinational lender is also pressuring the Ukrainian leadership to make the newly-created anti-graft agencies more efficient. "Tangible results in prosecuting and convicting corrupt high-level officials and recovering proceeds from corruption are yet to be achieved," the IMF's latest country report reads.
Specifically, the multinational lender insists that NABU's investigative powers should be strengthened further and an independent anti-corruption court should be set up. These measures would address existing problems in the judiciary, which has a reputation as one of the most corrupt institutions in Ukraine.
In September 2016, NABU's chief Artem Sytnyk repeatedly stated that the situation with the judiciary is very worrying. "Firstly, we do not want to lose the results of our work. Secondly, Ukrainian society expects more than just detentions and initiations of criminal cases; it wants to see court verdicts," the anti-graft chief told bne IntelliNews .
According to the latest agreements between the IMF and Kyiv, the Ukrainian authorities should provide NABU with the right to wiretap by the end of May, and safeguard "its exclusive jurisdiction for high-level corruption cases". Moreover, they should secure the passage of legislation necessary for creating a new anti-corruption court by mid-June.
The court should become operational by early 2018, the multinational lender insists. However, some Kyiv-based experts are afraid that continuing infighting among the political elites in Kyiv, mixed with upcoming elections, could undermine these plans.
Meanwhile, according to this year's bribery and corruption survey conducted by the EY consulting company, the number of respondents who believe bribery and corruption to be widespread in Ukraine is "unacceptably high", at 88%.
"These are very alarming figures for the leadership of the country," Alexei Kredisov, managing partner at EY Ukraine believes. "Representatives of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government should observe such feedback from the business community and significantly increase measures to deter corruption."
The expert added that the "tone at the top" may not be enough. "Visible actions and, most importantly, the “lead by example” principle must be applied. Establishing an independent court system and the avoidance of conflicts of interest between politics, public administration and business will be important components in fighting corruption," Kredisov added.
2.2 Reforms progress at slow rate in March
6 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com
Ukraine made some very modest progress on reforms in March, but