The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Bribery has invited Ukraine to join the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and become a full member of the relevant Working Group.
According to Serhiy Ionushas, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the parliamentary committee on law enforcement, the basis for this process was bill No. 11443, which was prepared by the committee and adopted by the Verkhovna Rada.
“Cooperation between Ukraine and the OECD is important for our country, because accession to the Convention will allow us to expand international cooperation in the investigation of corruption offences. In addition, it will strengthen Ukraine’s reputation as a reliable partner and at the same time contribute to attracting investment to our country. It is noteworthy that our partners have noted Ukraine’s significant progress in the fight against corruption and the implementation of the necessary anti-corruption mechanisms,” the politician said.
According to him, this was made possible, in particular, thanks to the coordinated work of the committee members with representatives of the working group under the President of Ukraine, led by the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, during the drafting of bill No. 11443.
“We have made serious efforts to ensure that Ukraine becomes a full member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Working Group on Bribery. And now the Committee continues to work in this direction, introducing international standards into domestic legislation,” Ionushas emphasized.
A total of 38 leading economies are members of the OECD. The organization already provides Ukraine with expert support and analytics.
As reported, on December 4, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of bill No. 11443 on improving mechanisms for holding legal entities accountable for bribing foreign officials. As noted in the explanatory note to the document, the law ensures Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations to implement the OECD Council’s recommendation on further combating bribery of foreign officials in international business transactions and introducing an effective mechanism for holding legal entities accountable, which will comply with the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions.
In particular, the bill provides for the possibility of applying special confiscation on the basis of a court decision to apply criminal law measures to a legal entity. According to the draft law, additional (non-financial) criminal law measures may be applied to a legal entity in the form of a temporary restriction on the activities of the legal entity or a temporary restriction on the acquisition of rights and/or benefits.
The draft law also provides for an increase in the amount of fines imposed on legal entities as the main criminal law measure.
