Transparency International has published its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2023. Ukraine received 36 points out of 100, moving up a record 12 positions in the global ranking – from 116th to 104th place. 

In 2012-2022, Ukraine gained or lost points as follows: 26 (144th) – 25 (144th) – 26 (142nd) – 27 (130th) – 29 (131st) – 30 (130th) – 32 (120th) – 30 (126th) – 33 (117th) – 32 (122nd) – 33 (116th).

The increase from 26 to 36 points and from 144th to 104th place is a significant success, the result of joint efforts of the state, society and international partners. The Center of Policy and Legal Reform explained what is special about the index and why we made such a leap.

CPI is the result of a comprehensive research. It shows not the level of corruption, but its perception, i.e. how business representatives and experts assess corruption in the public sector. It uses more than ten sources of information and ratings.  A country’s overall score depends on its anti-corruption policy, openness and transparency of public authorities, objective coverage of corruption in the media, and measures taken to prevent and combat corruption. 

In 2023, Ukraine did indeed see significant developments in the anti-corruption sphere. The prevention area was marked by the approval and launch of the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025, the resumption of public officials’ declarations and full verification of declarations, and the return of public procurement to the ProZorro platform. The key anti-corruption agencies (the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office) and the ARMA received heads selected through transparent competitions. A competition for the position of the Head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has been launched. 

After the High Council of Justice, High Qualification Commission of Judges and Public Integrity Council were formed, the qualification assessment of judges of local and appellate courts resumed, which should result in cleansing the judicial system of dishonest judges. The newly created Advisory Group of Experts launched a competition for three judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

Last year also saw a number of high-profile corruption disclosures, and criminal proceedings against top officials were initiated. The former heads of the Supreme Court and the State Property Fund, judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal, and several MPs were served with corruption suspicion notices. The High Anti-Corruption Court is also increasing its pace of work, having handed down 65 verdicts (the average number of verdicts in the previous 2019-2022 was 52). The oligarchs, who had a fairly strong influence on the economy and politics in Ukraine before Russia’s full-scale invasion, have now partially lost their influence.

For the sake of objectivity, it is worth noting that all these successes did not happen without the participation of civil society, which from time to time had to remind the government of the need and importance of systematic and consistent steps in the anti-corruption sphere. Journalistic investigations play an important role in exposing corruption. Society is waiting for a logical continuation of investigations into corruption in the defense sector, a competition for HACC judges should be held in 2024, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, having received the coveted autonomy, should confirm its ability to act independently of the Prosecutor General’s Office. 

In order for Ukraine to repeat its success in the coming years and for the CPI score to increase by 2-3 points again and again, it is necessary to continue the anti-corruption reform, fully implement the measures envisaged by the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2021-2025, develop and adopt the Anti-Corruption Strategy for the period after 2025 and a new state program for its implementation. And this is necessary, of course, not for the sake of a place in the world ranking, but for the well-being of Ukrainians. It should be reminded that Denmark is at the top of the CPI world leader list with 90 points, while among Ukraine’s friends and neighbors, Moldova and Hungary have 42 points each, Romania – 46, Poland and Slovakia – 54. So, we have someone to catch up with.