day after Viktor Chumak, a member of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, discovered a “surprising” amendment added into the budget bill for 2016 that would have allowed officials to avoid public asset declarations, its authors were found.
A document that was posted on the TSN news website showed that independent lawmaker Volodymyr Mysyk had asked the budget committee to add a line that suggests making the e-filing of asset declarations mandatory only as of Jan. 1, 2017 — a move which could rule out the EU’s easing of the visa-free regime for 2016. The document bares Mysyk’s signature.
In comments to TSN, Mysyk said he didn’t remember whether he asked the committee about this amendment.
Mysyk’s idea was backed up by Andriy Derkach, a deputy head of Volya Narodu (People’s Will) group and member of the budget committee, Chumak said on Jan. 5. Mustafa Nayyem, a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, said Nestor Shufrysh also supported the decision.
Commenting on the situation, Derkach said that it was an amendment made by Mysyk, but he “supported it as Ukraine shouldn’t turn into a police state.”
The budget bill was approved by the parliament on Dec. 24 and later signed by President Petro Poroshenko.
In official comments on Jan. 5, Poroshenko said that an “effective check of asset declarations of governmental officials and resolving the conflict of interest is a key part of the president’s fight against corruption and plays a crucial role in the visa liberalization process, which became possible with lots of effort.”
Following Poroshenko’s comments, a draft law that aims to cancel the amendment on postponing e-declarations was registered in the parliament by Vadym Denysenko, a lawmaker with the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.
In its latest report published on Dec. 18, the European Union noted progress in the establishment of the country’s National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, which aims to provide mechanisms to check asset declarations. The agency also needs to administer the web-portal of asset declarations as it’s one of the basic requirements Ukraine must fulfill to secure a visa-free travel.