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WSJ, Jan. 1 2016
Kiev Struggles to Battle Rampant Corruption
Nearly two years after revolution, Ukrainians say government is falling
short of promise to tackle graft
By LAURA MILLS
KIEV, Ukraine—At a parliamentary meeting on combating corruption,
Ukrainian lawmaker Volodymyr Parasyuk sought to land his own blow
against graft—by kicking in the face an official he says owns luxury
properties worth much more than a state salary could provide.
Almost two years after a revolution that brought down a president, Mr.
Parasyuk’s outrage reflects public frustration that the new government
isn’t doing enough to tackle the rampant corruption that fueled the
uprising and that keeps Ukraine among the poorest nations in Europe.
“I wanted to remind him that he is made of the same sweat and blood as
the rest of us, because that is what these bureaucrats forget," said the
28-year-old, one of the most visible protesters in the demonstrations
that helped oust pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. He has
since apologized to the nation for the attack in parliament in November,
but says he won’t do the same to the official, who denies enriching himself.
In the chaotic and combative politics of Ukraine—where parliament is the
site of frequent mass brawls—it is hard to untangle all the overlapping
corruption allegations and squabbling over who is to blame. Mr. Parasyuk
himself was named this week as receiving money from an organized crime
suspect, a claim he denies.
Economic overhauls have helped stabilize the economy and unlocked
billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund, despite a
19-month conflict with Russian-backed separatists. But most Ukrainians
say the revolution’s promise to replace rule by thieves with the rule of
law has fallen short and the government acknowledges that there is still
much to be done.
Only 7% of Ukrainians said they saw an improvement in the fight against
corruption since then, according to a September poll by the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Only 5% say the new
government has addressed the issues, including corruption, that drove
the revolution.
The failure is also frustrating Ukraine’s Western backers, who threw
their support behind another government after a pledge by leaders of an
earlier revolution in 2004 to “send bandits to jail” went largely
unfulfilled.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Kiev in December and urged
Ukrainian lawmakers to crack down in a stern speech. This is “Ukraine’s
moment,” he said. “It may be your last moment. Please for the sake of
the rest of us…don’t waste it.”
Ukraine’s leadership has said it is trying to make up for lost time,
establishing a new Kiev-based specialized anticorruption prosecutor to
tackle a handful of high-profile cases and other offices meant to reduce
graft. But it argues its powers are limited.
“We are not in Stalin’s times—we can’t just give the order to arrest
people,” said Borys Lozhkin, President Petro Poroshenko’s chief of
staff, in response to a question about how many people the government is
willing to arrest.
Mr. Lozhkin conceded that the General Prosecutor’s office, which
investigates a wide range of crimes and prepares cases for court at
federal, regional, and local levels, has traditionally been a place
where corruption has flourished.
“It is much easier to find a new building than to rebuild an old one,”
Mr. Lozhkin said, referring to the new anticorruption prosecutor.
Critics have accused General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin of slow progress
on prosecutions of high-level corruption and say he hasn’t done enough
to deal with graft in his office. U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt has
repeatedly called the office out as failing to follow through on any
anticorruption reforms.
But Mr. Lozhkin said that the presidential administration didn't believe
Mr. Shokin specifically was to blame for corruption in the prosecutor’s
office.
The General Prosecutor’s office didn't respond to questions from The
Wall Street Journal regarding the ambassador’s comments or other
allegations of corruption. Mr. Shokin has denied that the prosecutor’s
office is involved in wrongdoing or closing cases for any reasons that
are illegal.
The office on Tuesday accused Mr. Parasyuk of receiving tens of
thousands of dollars from another politician who has been formally
charged with involvement in organized crime. Mr. Parasyuk, who hasn’t
been charged, accused the general prosecutor’s office of fabricating the
case. The office didn’t respond to a request for comment on his claim.
Mr. Yanukovych—whose opulent estate near Kiev has become a symbol of his
rule—fled abroad, as did many of his allies. There been little action
against those who remained in Ukraine: the European Union banned travel
and froze the assets of more than a dozen members of the old regime who
stayed, but because Kiev hasn’t brought criminal charges against them,
EU officials have said the sanctions could be lifted in the spring.
There is a worry that “within a year all these people will have free
access to their assets in the West. After that, nobody would back
sanctions again,” one Western official said. “Many EU officials are fed
up with Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, accusations of graft by anticorruption activists, journalists
and diplomats have followed to the new government.
One key lightning rod has been Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whose
ratings have plummeted to single digits amid allegations in the media
and among anticorruption activists of his associates’ corrupt dealings.
Mr. Yatsenyuk has denied any involvement in corruption and his
associates, one of whom resigned from parliament over the controversy
this month, deny wrongdoing.
While the country’s leadership promised to keep Mr. Yatsenyuk in his
post for now, one lawmaker lobbying for his ouster gave him a bouquet of
roses and attempted to carry him away from the podium during a speech to
parliament last week.
Blame for the failing reform effort could also threaten Mr. Poroshenko.
He has come under particular fire for his appointment of Mr. Shokin.
“The prosecutor general is the last defense point for those with vested
interests (in Ukraine),” one Western official told The Wall Street Journal.
Even as Western diplomats have taken tough public stances on corruption,
members of the new government have sometimes dug in, according to one
official in Ukraine’s presidential administration.
After Mr. Pyatt’s criticism of the prosecutor’s office, members of the
administration were offended, the official said.
“They said, ‘How can he say this?,” the official said. “We are not some
banana republic where you can say whatever you want.”
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