A lively exchange over corruption took place on Sept. 12 between Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and BBC HARDTalk host Stephen Sackur.
On the final day of the Yalta
European Strategy, Sackur asked Yatsenyuk to name one person who has been
convicted of major corruption in Ukraine since ex-President Viktor Yanukovych
fled power on Feb. 22, 2014.
“Name one big fish who has been held
to account put through the courts for corruption – name me one,” Sackur said.
Yatsenyuk could not name a single
person, although he cited the arrests of two top directors of the state
emergency service on suspected corruption. They were released on bail two days
later.
“I am not responsible for
prosecutors office nor the judiciary,” Yatsenyuk said. “I would be happy to be
the chief justice, the general prosecutor and head of the anti-corruption
bureau. Everyone should do their own job.”
Yatsenyuk said his government and
Cabinet of Ministers have paved the way for the corruption fight by financing a
new anti-corruption bureau, ensuring debt reduction and finding enough money in
the budget to keep Ukraine’s army strong in the fight against Russia’s war. He
also named instilling professional governance of Ukraine’s vast state-owned enterprises as another priority.
Every time Yatsenyuk touted
achievements, Sackur tried to return the discussion to Ukraine’s failing rule
of law and inability to confront oligarchic power.
Sackur said that average Ukrainians
would ask: “Why are you not doing more on that front – corruption and
de-oligarchization?”
Sackur also confronted Yatsenyuk
with Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili’s accusations that the prime
minister is blocking reforms and defending the oligarchic, bureaucratic system
– particularly billionaires Rinat Akhmetov and Igor Kolomoisky.
“I am not on a campaign track to
president of Georgia,” Yatsenyuk said, a reference to the public campaign under
way to get Saakashvili appointed as his replacement.
Yatsenyuk rebutted the allegations.
To the contrary, Yatsenyuk said
that he has raised taxes on raw materials important to Akhmetov’s businesses and
wrested control of a state-oil trader from Kolomoisky.
Lawyer Bate C. Toms asked from the
audience why the state customs service remains so corrupt in the Odesa port, with
inexcusable delays and demands for bribes. He asked Yatsenyuk whether he would
support Saakashvili’s proposal for electronic clearance within one day.
Yatsenyuk said his government is
promoting such laws, but said that as long as public employees make such low
salaries, they will always take bribes.
“Corruption in Ukraine definitely
concerns me,” Yatsenyk said. “If the average salary is $100 per month, (the
public employee) will definitely take bribes.”
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]
