Poroshenko signs controversial law on NGO e-declarations

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed on March 27 a law that removes the requirement of military personnel to file electronic declarations on their income. Yet its scandalous provisions call for employees of the nation’s Western-financed anti-corruption, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to declare not only their income, but also purchasing activity. Their vendors are also required to file declarations, which NGO leaders said would discourage them from working with them. The day of the signing, the president met with these NGO leaders to form a working group to amend the law’s NGO provisions, which don’t take effect until 2018.

Recall, representatives of the European Commission, the U.S. government and the British government all called for a review of the legislation because of the anti-corruption NGO provisions, citing them as a step backwards in Ukraine’s reform efforts.

Zenon Zawada: The president’s gesture towards anti-corruption NGO leaders is aimed at removing the international concern that he’s putting pressure on them and trying to restrict their anti-corruption activity. It wouldn’t be the first such attempt by the president, who has been frequently criticized for resisting Western anti-corruption demands. And we can’t help but think he’s putting some pressure on the NGOs by signing the legislation without removing the amendment on NGOs, which was authored by an MP from the de facto coalition in place.

Ultimately, the president’s signing of the legislation creates the risk that the provision pressuring NGOs will remain in place. In turn, that creates even more risk that the IMF, EU and other lenders will deny the Ukrainian government more loans in the future because of such efforts to hinder reforms.