National Agency for Prevention of Corruption ‘Wants Phased Launch of E-declaration System’

The National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) wants the phased launch of the system of electronic income and assets declarations, Vitaliy Shabunin, Head of the Anti-corruption Action Center, reported in his blog on Ukrayinska Pravda.

"The members of NAPC allegedly want to cancel their previous decision to simultaneously launch the system of e-declarations for all public officials. Instead, they are going to introduce it incrementally. Public officials will have 60 days to electronically report all their own and family members’ incomes, gifts, assets and expenses for 2015," Shabunin noted.

According to him, the NAPC wants to start with the judges of the Constitutional Court.

Shabunin suggests that this is a kind of provocation: "The authorities through the NAPC will make a nonsensical offer to the Constitutional Court judges: either the judges submit their declarations, which immediately entails criminal proceedings against them on ‘illegal enrichment,’ or they can decide that the law on e-declarations contradicts the Constitution which will indefinitely protract the launch of the entire system of e-declarations."

Shabunin informs that the first ‘wave’ of declarants should also include other judges, MPs, members of regional and local councils and the officials of local self-government bodies.

He also points out that the first ‘wave’ also encompasses top officials of the State Service for Special Communication and Protection of Information. "To launch the system of e-declarations, a Conformity Certificate should be promptly obtained from this authority. Guess whether it will issue such a certificate in this context," he utters.

The NGO leader believes that the phased launch of e-declarations was initiated by the "President, Chairman of Parliament and his deputies, Prime Minister, other Ministers and their deputies, Head of the SBU, Prosecutor General, Head of the NBU, Head and members of the Accounting Chamber, top military officials of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Members of Central Election Commission, top police officers, and others." They will have to submit their declarations in the second ‘wave’ – after October 15.

Initially, it was planned to launch the system of e-declarations on August 15. Such a system is a part of Ukraine’s commitments to the IMF and EU regarding visa liberalization.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda