On July 4, 2022, the long-awaited Ukraine Recovery Conference, dedicated to the issue of a prosperous and inclusive recovery process in Ukraine, took place in Lugano, Switzerland. Within the conference, the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, together with ISAR Ednannia, organised a public discussion, "Paving the Way to a Successful and Inclusive Recovery Process of Ukraine". The event brought together the Ukrainian civil society representatives, public authorities, local community leaders, the private sector, high-level international representatives, and Ukrainian officials to discuss the process of recovery, reconstruction, and modernisation of Ukraine and need to ensure respect for transparency, accountability, and integrity within it.
The Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov opened the first panel regarding international engagement in the recovery process and accountability:
“During the war-time and martial law Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian business and the civil society go hand in hand towards our victory. Structural reforms, rule of law, anti-corruption, governmental and judicial reform might be the main factors for upcoming recovery.”
Anastasia Radina, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-corruption Policy, also added that strengthening anti-corruption institutions is of key importance for attracting investment for reconstruction.
“We are already solid regarding a baseline for the recovery process. First, we have a functioning state, which only a few states worldwide managed to demonstrate. Second, we have one of the most sophisticated anti-corruption infrastructure in the world. Today, the country is very different from what it used to be in 2014. The anti-corruption institutions started to deliver, demonstrate justice, put corrupt people and judges behind bars, and recover stolen assets for Ukraine's budget, meaning for the benefit of all people of Ukraine. Last, we have a vibrant civil society with over ten years old tradition of giving a headache to many politicians. These are fundamental pillars of the recovery that we already have.”
Oleksandr Syenkevych, Mayor of Mykolaiv started the discussion dedicated to elaborating on ways to ensure an inclusive reconstruction process. He detailed the damage caused to the city during the war and his vision of the most realistic option for post-war reconstruction based on the Build Back Better principle.
“There is a big appetite of the international partners to support Ukraine’s recovery, but the first corruption scandal may ruin the trust.”
, - stated Olena Halushka, Member of the Board of the Anti-Corruption Center. She called for finalization of the SAPO leadership competition by appointing a winner and suggested creating a special fund with a supervisory board that would monitor the distribution of funds allocated by international partners for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Andrii Borovyk, executive director of TI Ukraine, offered to develop IT solutions for monitoring and ensuring transparency of all projects related to reconstruction.
All participants of the public discussion agreed that the key is to implement a dialogue between the state, civil society, business associations, the academic community, etc., and international partners. Such cooperation will ensure an efficient and transparent process of reconstruction and consider society's interests in its implementation.
The recommendations and representatives of these communities on ensuring accountability of the reconstruction process and prevention of corruption risks can be found below.
The event is co-organised by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), which also previously initiated a Public Discussion “Accountability in Reconstruction: International Experience and the Case of Ukraine”, the results of which were presented at a conference in Lugano. Read more.
Watch the whole record of the panel discussion “Ways to ensure an inclusive reconstruction process. Civil society’s role in the recovery and reconstruction” below.
