Important Changes

This past year legislators paid attention to the fact that it was not just political instability that scares away investors from Ukraine. The pressure exerted by law-enforcement bodies within criminal proceedings is just as influential as other factors in making the business environment insecure.

Criminal law legislation underwent important changes. We saw novelties informally called #StopMasksShow. Lawyers say that the positive impact of these changes is obvious, but the attitude of investigative authorities still needs to be improved.

With the requirements put forward by foreign donors, Ukraine is addressing corruption by establishing and developing appropriate authorities and launching an electronic system for declaration of assets for all public officials. In the past few years corruption cases have been in the sharp focus of the Ukrainian media. It is interesting that criminal proceedings that have been initiated may raise reputational risks for public figures just before elections in Ukraine in spring and autumn. 

Just recently the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the article on unlawful enrichment in the Criminal Code to be incompliant with the Constitution of Ukraine. So what next?


Happy reading,
Olga Usenko