Ukraine has battled endemic corruption since the first days of its independence in 1991, and government officials and independent campaigners alike say that fight is key to winning the existential war it is fighting with Russia.
They have had some success. Anti-corruption organisation Transparency International ranks Ukraine at its highest level since 2006: currently 104th out of 180 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index.
“Most Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions are showing pretty good results,” Andriy Borovyk, the executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, tells the BBC.
Relevant section of the article where it lays out what has been changing and what still needs to change:
… graft has been all but exterminated in some of the worst affected areas - for instance, government services such as issuing passports, permits and licences.
He also tells the BBC that significant progress had been made in reforming education and police.
Problem areas
Mr Kalmykov admits, however, that the government has been less successful in eradicating corruption in using natural resources (e.g. in mining and forestry), regulating monopolies and in large infrastructure projects.
“Progress has been slowest where big interests and big players meet,” he says.
According to him, “in the next five-ten years the government should focus on cleansing the judiciary, which will make the general system of public administration healthier”.
