Corruption is an issue in Ukrainian society often tied to a troubled relationship with Russia going back to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since regaining independence from Russia, Ukraine has faced a series of politicians, criminal bosses, and oligarchs who used the corruption of police, political parties, and industry to gain power. Eventual public outcry against corruption helped lead to the Euromaidan uprising.
History
Following post-Soviet Union independence Ukraine faced the greatest and most violent corruption in areas of Donbas which had materials, industry, tourism, and ports. Roots of the Ukrainian corruption lie in the Soviet nature of Ukrainian political leaders, once integrated into the Communist (ruling elite) before the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2005 mass graves from the 1990s with businesspersons, judges, lawyers, and investigators were discovered in Donetsk.
United States diplomats described Ukraine under Presidents Kuchma (in office from 1994 to 2005) and Yushchenko (in office from 2005 to 2010) as a kleptocracy, according to United States diplomatic cables leak. Former Governor of Donetsk and impeached President Viktor Yanukovych had known ties to organized crime as part of his political base the Party of Regions.
In 2014 the Euromaidan Uprising, which broke out after Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a trade deal with the European Union, led to widespread protests over corruption. As protesters gathered in Kyiv, Berkut riot police assaulted them, leading to national protests against the existing government led by president Yanukovich and prime minister Mykola Azarov.
Corruption reforms have seen some successes in Ukraine since the Revolution of Dignity. Police reform, public procurement, and dissolution of state-owned industries since 2014 have led to reduced waste and corruption.
In January 2023, several senior officials, including five provincial governors, lost their jobs in a corruption scandal during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Deputy Defense Minister Viacheslav Shapovalov, following a major procurement scandal in the ministry, and deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko also resigned at the same time. A few days earlier a deputy minister at the Ministry of Infrastructure was sacked after the anti-corruption agency detained him while he was receiving a $400,000 alleged bribe.
Comparative research on corruption
In an August 1995 survey by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, 41.8% of respondents stated that corruption "is a shameful phenomenon that has no objective grounds" while 36% chose the option that corruption is "a component of social traditions." Respondents from Southern and Western Ukraine more often chose the option of corruption being "a component of social traditions" (42.2% and 43.4%). The option "a shameful phenomenon that has no objective grounds" was more often chosen by respondents in Central Ukraine (47.5%) and Eastern Ukraine (53.45%).
In 2012 Ernst & Young put Ukraine among the three most-corrupt nations from 43 surveyed, alongside Colombia and Brazil. In 2015 The Guardian called Ukraine "the most corrupt nation in Europe". According to a poll conducted by Ernst & Young in 2017, experts considered Ukraine to be the ninth-most corrupt nation from 53 surveyed.
Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which scored 180 countries on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"), gave Ukraine a score of 33. When ranked by score, Ukraine ranked 116th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the worst score was 12 (ranked 180), and the average score was 43. For comparison with regional scores, the best score among Eastern European and Central Asian countries was 56, the worst score was 19 and the average score was 35. Transparency International noted, "Although it still scores low, war-torn Ukraine is one of few significant improvers on the CPI, having gained eight points since 2013."
Prominent Ukrainian economist performed a comparison of the Ukrainian corruption in a wide global context based on data provided by Transparency International. This research estimated the level of the corruption in Ukraine as comparable to countries of Sub-Saharan Africa with Uganda as the closest counterpart.
Types of corruption
Corruption in Ukraine has followed similar paths as organized crime and political parties in the post-Soviet Union.