Ukraine assures U.S. on efforts to implement e-asset declaration

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin assured a U.S. congressional delegation that the Ukrainian government intends to correct any faults in the electronic asset declaration system by the month’s end. The delegation raised its concerns during an Aug. 16 meeting with Klimkin, said U.S. Senator Christopher Coons, as reported by the UNIAN agency.

The Information Protection State Service repeated on Aug. 16 that it’s impossible to certify the system currently because of unaddressed errors in its development. The public outcry regarding the lack of certification serves the interests of those trying to avoid responsibility for these faults, its statement said.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said on Aug. 16 they won’t submit their declarations until errors are fixed. Meanwhile, a television news program reported that day that members of Avakov’s entourage became partners this year in companies that gained licenses to explore and develop hydrocarbon deposits.

In regards to another transparency program, several local officials with the Roads State Agency and Ukrzaliznytsia state railway enterprise have engaged in sabotage of the Prozorro electronic tender system, alleged on Aug. 16 Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian. 

Zenon Zawada: State officials have been resisting anti-corruption reforms, which is natural at the local level. But resistance should not be the case with the top leadership, as is being alleged by NGO experts and civic activists. The politicians who cast themselves as pro-Western are at odds with Western officials and the Ukrainian public, which wants an accelerated pace of reforms.

The most hopeful resolution we see to this conflict is the formation of a strong pro-Western reform political party that would earn a large faction in the next parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for 2018. Otherwise, we expect this game of Ukrainian officials stalling on public demands for reform can drag on for many more years.