Ukraine Strives for a Breakthrough in Countering Corruption

KIEV, Ukraine, December 20, 2010 - The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych submitted to the
Parliament ("Verkhovna Rada") of Ukraine a new draft Law "On Principles of
Prevention and Combating Corruption in Ukraine". The President repeatedly
identified corruption as a vital issue that has been threatening national
security and constitution order in Ukraine.

The provisions of the draft law are consistent with provisions
of the UN Convention against Corruption and have received top reviews from
the experts of Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe
(GRECO), who supervise the fulfillment of Ukraine's obligations according to
the EU - Ukraine Action Plan.

The draft law that has been developed by the National
Anti-Corruption Committee, with the active support of the Ministry of Justice
of Ukraine will provide a mechanism to actively prevent corruption and its
roots.

Last year Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted three
anti-corruption laws. Some articles of these laws, however, have not been
consistent with the current legislation and received a lot of criticism from
experts as well as from the civil society. The current draft of the
anti-corruption law was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the
Constitution of Ukraine, the United Nations Convention against Corruption,
Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, Council of Europe
Civil Law Convention on Corruption, provisions of the Criminal Code of
Ukraine, Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and Law of Ukraine "On
civil service".

If adopted by the Parliament the new law would require no
additional financial costs from the state budget but will significantly
contribute to the improvement of Ukrainian legislation on combating
corruption.

Ukraine scored 2.4 points out of 10 according to the
Corruption Index 2010 from Transparency International to grab 134th position
among 178 countries. The top three of the least corrupted countries according
to this rating were Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore whereas Afghanistan,
Burma and Somalia were ranked as most corrupt nations.

For more information, please contact Maryna Khorunzha +380-509151565, news at wnu-ukraine.com, Project Manager at Worldwide News Ukraine