Ukraine slightly worsens its position in Corruption Perceptions Index 2024
11 February 2025 11:49
ukraine received 35 points out of 100 in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024 and ranked 105th out of 180 countries. This was reported by Transparency International Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Thus, after a tangible progress of three points in 2023, in 2024 Ukraine lost some ground in the anti-corruption fight.
Transparency International Ukraine explained that, like last year, Ukraine’s results in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2024 were calculated on the basis of 8 studies covering the period from February 2021 to September 2024 inclusive. In 3 of them, the scores increased, and in 5 they decreased. At the same time, Ukraine’s results worsened in studies that, among other things, analyze political corruption.
What events have influenced the perception of corruption in Ukraine?
Among the factors that had a positive impact on the result are the restoration of public e-declaration and party reporting, the adoption of the State Anti-Corruption Program, the update of the legislation on procurement of the Ministry of Defense and the activities of the NABU-SAPO, and the overall active work of anti-corruption agencies. As Transparency International Ukraine reminds, over the past two years, the High Anti-Corruption Court has delivered 142 verdicts in top corruption cases, including the most high-profile ones against judge Mykola Chaus, former MPs Andriy Odarchenko, Oleksandr Onyshchenko and Ruslan Solvar.
Negative trends include, for example, threats to the effective implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Program due to sabotage by some corrupt government agencies. Also, over the past two years, there have been attempts to put pressure on journalists and the public, cases of political influence in various areas, a scandal with leaks in the NABU and in procurement of the Ministry of Defense or in the framework of reconstruction – from the Hrynkevych case to the reconstruction of Okhmatdyt.
A number of other significant high-profile events that directly affect the perception of corruption were not covered by the survey this time. These include the corruption scandal at the MSEC, the purchase of low-quality mines, the refusal of an international company to participate in the reconstruction of Gostomel because of bribery, and other scandals involving the use of political influence. But all of these events will be taken into account in future studies.
However, this year’s results signal a formal approach to the implementation of many reforms or a deliberate stalling in their implementation. Therefore, a certain “stagnation” in 2024 indicates that focusing solely on the programmatic fulfillment of Ukraine’s commitments is not enough, and the implementation of the reforms launched is not as good as planned.
What about the perception of corruption among neighbors?
As Transparency International Ukraine emphasizes, the problem of stalled progress or slipping indicators is typical for other countries in the region. For instance, among the EU candidate countries, the following results were achieved: Georgia (53 points, 53rd place), Montenegro (46 points, 65th place), and Turkey (34 points, 107th place) did not change their scores over the year. Serbia lost 1 point (35 points, 105th place), North Macedonia (40 points, 88th place) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (33 points, 114th place) lost 2 points each.
Only two candidate countries managed to improve their scores: Moldova’s position increased by 1 point (43 points, 76th place), and Albania’s score increased by 5 points (42 points, 80th place).
At the same time, the average score for the European Union this year decreased by 2 points to 62 points.
Among its neighbors, Ukraine continues to be ahead of Russia – the terrorist country lost 4 points in 2024 and ranks 154th with 22 points. Belarus also continues to fall – last year, our northern neighbor also lost 4 points, and now it is on the 114th place with 33 points.
Transparency International Ukraine also reminds that the main drivers of change are reforms aimed at European integration and fulfillment of international obligations.
What is the State Anti-Corruption Program?
In 2022, the Verkhovna Rada approved the Anti-Corruption Strategy. This happened after years of pressure from civil society, international donors, and the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC). The NAPC, relevant authorities, and industry experts followed it up with the development of the State Anti-Corruption Program for 2023-2025. This is a complex document that includes 1187 measures for ministries and other authorities to implement in order to achieve the results set out in the Strategy. Thus, Ukraine has received a roadmap on how to overcome corruption and achieve prosperity.
The NACP has launched the Information System for Monitoring the Implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Policy. This system is where public authorities enter information on the implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Program. The NACP monitoring system has open and closed parts. The open part is intended to display complete and objective information on the implementation of measures, as well as the results of quarterly monitoring and annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the State Anti-Corruption Program.
The closed part, which includes all program implementers, is designed to organize and plan the implementation of measures within each institution, as well as to provide the NACP with information on the status and dynamics of each measure. This approach is visual and accessible to the general public.
