Zelenskiy submits illegal enrichment legislation to parliament

Legislation demanded by the IMF to punish state officials
for illicit enrichment was submitted to parliament by Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 3. The bill became a key concern for IMF officials
after the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled in late February to overturn existing legislation on illicit
enrichment. Zelenskiy’s draft calls for
punishing state officials whose assets exceed their income by more than 12,000
pre-tax minimum wages, which currently amounts to UAH 204,000, the
pravda.com.ua news site reported. The previous bill set the difference at 1,000
pre-tax minimum wages, or UAH 17,000. Zelenskiy’s draft also eliminates the
clause in the previous bill that deems assets to be illegal as those “whose
legality of the basis of acquisition isn’t confirmed by evidence,” which the
court determined to be a violation of presumption of innocence. Zelenskiy’s
draft also calls for punishment by incarceration to be determined regardless of
the position of the state official convicted of the crime.

Zenon Zawada: It’s
positive to see the Zelenskiy administration take a proactive approach to this
legislation, submitting it to parliament promptly despite the IMF’s
announcement last week that it will postpone its review of Ukraine’s loan
tranche until after the parliamentary elections (scheduled for July 21). The
sooner IMF requirements are met for this tranche, the sooner work can begin to
meet the requirements for the subsequent tranche. Such a proactive approach
would be unprecedented for any Ukrainian president in dealing with Western
institutions, especially the IMF. So this simple legislation is a source of
optimism for the investment community if it reflects just how proactive the
Zelenskiy administration will be in dealing with the West.