WASHINGTON — Just back from a visit to Ukraine, a U.S. Treasury official on Tuesday described a country whose wartime economy has proven resilient in the face of the Russian invasion and said budget support from the U.S. and allies is intended to help the country fight corruption and increase transparency.
His comments come as Ukraine wants to join NATO but is partly blocked by political corruption scandals. Transparency International Ukraine scores poorly, 122nd in the Corruption Perceptions Index of countries.
Brent Neiman, deputy assistant secretary of international finance, said in a speech that Ukraine, which receives hundreds of billions in financial aid from the US and allied countries, must implement reforms to “reduce the potential for conflicts of interest and corruption.”
Speaking to the Atlantic Council think tank, Neiman described positive macroeconomic signals, including new business registrations, a shift in trade routes to the Danube and rail passenger numbers returning to pre-war levels.
Still, the National Bank of Ukraine’s growth estimate for 2024 was recently lowered to 3%, Neiman says, and production facilities in concentrated areas are vulnerable to bombing.
The US has roughly provided According to the Council on Foreign Relations, $175 billion goes to Ukraine.
Neiman outlined recommended anti-corruption measures that Ukraine has taken, including requiring public office holders to report their assets, insulating Ukraine’s Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office from political pressure and improving corporate governance at state-owned companies.
“To be clear, I believe that the U.S. and the international community should help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s barbaric attacks, even if Ukraine would not have room to implement these types of reforms,” Neiman said. “Nevertheless, this is an important opportunity to implement these types of reforms. help Ukraine do both.”
“To this end, budget support from the United States, Europe and the international financial institutions is intended to help Ukraine implement a number of priority reforms.”
The European Union and NATO have previously demanded widespread anti-graft measures Kiev can realize its ambition to join the blocs.
Ukraine has taken steps to root out corruption, and a dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 on an anti-corruption platform, and both Zelenskyy and his aides have cited as evidence the recent dismissal of top officials, particularly that of Ivan Bakanov, former head of the State Security Service, in July 2022. of their efforts to address transplantation.