National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) strengthens cooperation with the Business Ombudsman Council to reduce corruption in the private sector

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the Business Ombudsman Council updated the Memorandum on Cooperation and Exchange of Information.
The Head of the NACP, Oleksandr Novikov, and the Business Ombudsman of Ukraine, Roman Waschuk, agreed that every six months, the Council provides the Agency with information on most common corrupt practices in interaction of business with state bodies, local self-government authorities, and state-owned companies.
“We have to work on consistent steps to create transparent and clear interaction rules between business and the state. First of all, it is necessary to focus on such areas as state regulation of the economy, taxes and customs, public and private economy sectors to ensure decent working conditions for businesses without corruption. And it is possible only provided systemic cooperation with business,” Oleksandr Novikov, Head of the NACP pointed out.
The Business Ombudsman Roman Waschuk emphasized that the role of communication between anti-corruption bodies and the business community should be built solely based on transparent rules of the game without corruption schemes. “The question of our state survival now depends on whether business will be able to make a profit in extremely tough conditions despite the war and economic instability. Thus, our mission now is to ensure legal predictability, and not to destabilize the business environment with ill-considered decisions that may increase corruption risks,” stressed Roman Waschuk, the Business Ombudsman.
The Memorandum provides for work on eliminating corruption risks in interaction of entrepreneurs with state bodies. Cooperation of institutions, in particular, will contribute to reducing cases of abuse and pressure on business being a working economy and post-war recovery driver.
It is worth noting that such measures are already envisaged in the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025 elaborated by NACP to implement the Anti-Corruption Strategy until 2025. In particular, it mentions the need to align regulatory acts with the Law “On the Administrative Procedure” to reduce business processes and unofficial payments bureaucratization level. During the public discussion of the Program, experts stressed the importance of passing the law on the Business Ombudsman Institution to ensure effective restoration of business rights violated by state bodies