ACT: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS AGAINST CORRUPTION

The goal of the project was to develop practical solutions to prevent corruption, for which the participants were divided into teams and developed their proposals.

The first international team, among whose members was Artem Ripenko, studied Ukraine and Moldova as candidate countries for EU accession, which are simultaneously undergoing the path of European integration and working with large amounts of international support. The effective and transparent use of these resources is critically important both for fulfilling the EU accession criteria and for maintaining the trust of international partners.

Ukraine also faces new risks that have arisen in the context of the full-scale Russian invasion: the distribution of humanitarian aid, the administration of international technical assistance, compensation mechanisms for destroyed property, and the functioning of the reconstruction system, including digital management tools. As a result, systemic vulnerabilities inherent in both countries were identified:

• Insufficient effectiveness of mechanisms for controlling the use of funds;
• Conflicts of interest in public procurement;
• Data management problems.

Responding to the identified risks, the team proposed practical recommendations:

• Developing clear operational procedures for the use of international aid that would minimize discretion in decision-making;
• Strengthening mechanisms for managing conflicts of interest through mandatory declaration and removal from decision-making;
• Expanding the role of independent audit and implementing risk-based approaches to audits;

Creating integrated international aid management systems with automated audits, risk indicators, open data, and the possibility of interdepartmental information exchange.

Donors themselves play an important role in minimizing corruption risks, in particular through strengthening monitoring requirements, better coordination between programs, and aligning funding with the real needs of beneficiary countries. All that remains is to work on project implementation.