Three years ago, the construction industry in Ukraine was one of the most corrupt. The annual volume of bribes in construction was as high as UAH 3.5 billion. In 2019, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, together with its partners, started to digitalise the sector: the Unified State Electronic System in the Construction Sector (USESCS) was created, and administrative services were transferred to the Diia portal. This has dramatically changed the system of relationships in the industry.

This was stated by Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Development and Minister of Digital Transformation, at the presentation of the achievements and plans of the electronic construction system “Digital Transformation of the Construction Sector. Three years of USESCS”.

“The introduction of the electronic system in the construction sector is a very illustrative example of how every area where corruption exists should be transformed. The e-system and digitalisation have yielded UAH 1.5 billion in anti-corruption effect and almost UAH 10 billion in savings in 2021 alone. This is money that people did not bring to corrupt offices, but left to use in their lives,” said Mykhailo Fedorov.

Ukrainians can now receive 100% of construction services online via the Diia portal. In particular, the My Construction account is available, where citizens can view the results of the review of submitted documents. In total, more than 100,000 people have used the services.

A survey of construction services users on Diia showed that 74% are fully satisfied with these services, and 77% believe that electronic services contribute to the fight against corruption.

“The construction sector digitalisation reform primarily helps ordinary citizens who are building houses, starting to rebuild their homes after shelling or developing their businesses. We have removed unnecessary individuals from the process to make everything as transparent and convenient as possible. This is the format that will increase the confidence of both international partners and Ukrainians themselves in the reforms,” said Mykhailo Fedorov.

The Minister also added that the team of the Ministry of Digital Transformation would continue to develop construction services on the Diia portal and help digitise the construction sector.

The event was organised by the USAID / UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (TAPAS) project with the support of the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The East Europe Foundation was the partner of the event.