Arseniy Yatsenyuk urges Parliament to broaden powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau

On Thursday, May 14, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at its meeting was considering a number of issues regarding the national anti-corruption policy, in particular on the activities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the extension of its powers. This was started by Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

"Today the Government is taking a number of decisions, the purpose of which is the actual start of the activity of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and allowing it to perform its functions: to investigate, to fight corruption in the country - from the corruption in the highest echelons of the authorities to domestic corruption, including at the level of tax service inspectors, custom’s inspectors and other public authorities", - said the Head of Government.

The Government meeting is also attended by the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau Artem Sytnyk.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk appealed to the Parliament of Ukraine to broaden the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and “to give an opportunity to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to conduct an investigation against officials if they had deliberately submitted false information in tax return”: “Now we introduce criminal liability for submitting false data as well as we give the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to conduct an investigation regarding each state employees who submit false information in their tax returns.”

He noted that there have been already revealed “so many facts” of inconsistency of tax return of officials " to real property owned by these officials directly or indirectly.”

The PM also said that the Government submits to the Parliament the amendments to the law on combating corruption, which would make impossible to hide assets through its registration on third parties: “This is standard scheme when you register (something) on a son-in-law, a brother, relatives, but in fact the actual owner is that or another official. Now anyone will not hide behind the fact that the property is registered on the names of relatives or other people. Now an official is obliged to inform clearly, whether he uses this property, regardless it is registered on another person. And he must prove that he has no relation to it.”

Arseniy Yatsenyuk added when the draft low to be passed Ukrainian officials will be strictly required to clearly indicate whether they have the property on the right of use even if the property is not registered on them personally.

“This is our common fight against corruption and it is our part of the obligations first of all to the Ukrainians and to our foreign creditors. I hope that the Parliament promptly passes appropriate laws and allows the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to conduct an investigation in relation to officials who falsely report the property or report not all property which belong to them on the basis of the right of ownership or on the right of use,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed.

He also said that to ensure the activities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau the Cabinet of Ministers decided to transfer the National Anti-Corruption Bureau renovated premises in 7 thousand square meters, located at Solomyanska square, Kyiv: “Now the National Anti-Corruption Bureau receives the premises and it could accommodate investigators and officers who will be engaged in the fight against corruption.”

“The Government will provide all necessary funding. It is the first step made by us together to ensure that National Anti-Corruption Bureau began to operate,” the Head of Government added.