www.coe.int/greco
	About GRECO
	Meetings
	Evaluations
	Documents
	News flashes / Press releases
	Web resources
	10th Anniversary Conference
	Site map
	Contact us
	Restricted access

Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption calls for improved anti-bribery legislation and stricter supervision of political funding in Ukraine

Press Release

Strasbourg, 30 November 2011 –  The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) today called for Ukraine to increase its efforts to combat bribery and create greater transparency of political funding.

In their third report (theme I / theme II) on Ukraine, GRECO warned that determined action in the area of political financing was clearly required in order to foster citizens’ trust in Ukraine’s democratic system, its politicians and political parties. Parties and election candidates could become dependent on powerful business or shadow financing as they rely entirely on private funding, the Group said.

Measures taken in 2011 to bring the national legal framework in line with Council of Europe standards were welcome, but more needed to be done to complete them and make them clearer, said GRECO. Provisions on public sector bribery needed expanding to cover non-material gain, private sector bribery and trading in influence were not fully addressed, and improvements were needed on sanctions.

GRECO welcomed ongoing electoral reforms and new legislation on general party financing planned for mid 2013, but stressed the need for swift action to create coherence and reach Council of Europe standards, especially in the area of party funding and election campaign funding. The Group called for proactive supervision and a wider range of sanctions, which must be applied.

GRECO will monitor Ukraine’s responses to their report during 2013.

***

GRECO was established in 1999 by the Council of Europe to monitor states’ compliance with the organisation’s anti-corruption standards. It currently comprises 48 European states and the United States of America.