Anti-Corruption Agency Chairwoman Accused of Power Grab

A member of the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) Rouslan Riaboshapka publicly accused NAPC Chairwoman Natalia Korchak of attempting to ‘grab power.’ He commented on his Facebook page: "In fact, the Chairwoman single-handedly consolidated the power of a collective body." He published a copy of Korchak’s instruction to prove his statement.

She instructed the NAPC chief of staff to independently approve weekly action plans of the Agency and supervise their implementation. "It appears that neither Chairwoman nor chief of staff care about the opinions of NAPC members. They don’t care that it is the NAPC meetings that should approve such action plans," he stresses.

"Reprisals against officials who dare to abide by the law rather than by the whims of these two persons also happen, including cutting bonuses," Riaboshapka adds.

"How can the Agency’s independence be secured? How can society be sure that the Agency is working for social good rather than for its Chairwoman and chief of staff," he claims.

Riaboshapka also accused his colleagues of obstructing the Agency’s launch. On Friday, July 1, the NAPC decided not to hold any meeting at least until July 11 which is a violation of the law.

He went on that NAPC employs persons who failed selection tests. "Today, a selection commission decided to employ a person who got only three points out of 60 [in the selection test]! He was the worst of four candidates. The threshold is 11 points," he commented.

Launch of the NAPC as an independent anti-corruption body was considered one of Ukraine’s key obligations for visa liberalization.  

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda