On April 10, 2023, the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense was established in Ukraine. This independent body appeared after a high-profile scandal involving the procurement of food by the Ministry, which drew particular attention to corruption risks in the defense sector. One of the critical tasks of this council was to strengthen public control over the defense department.
The first members of the Council included 15 people who were elected by an open nationwide vote. Among them are journalists, volunteers, public figures, those who know how to fight against the corruption and whom they trust. Olena Tregub, executive director of NAKO, was also elected a member of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense. After a year of work in this consultative and advisory body, the results were discussed with Olena Tregub.
The Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense catalyzes reforms and the anti-corruption fight, which must be supported. NAKO Executive Director Olena Tregub is convinced of this. She explained that during the last year, one of the critical directions of the Anti-Corruption Council's work was the procurement of rear support, in particular, food and physical support. Thanks to the efforts of the Council, even before the launch of the State rear operator, it was possible to save eight billion hryvnias by returning purchases to Prozorro.
"However, we saw that the entry to Prozorro did not completely solve the problem because there was only one new supplier. The rest was the so-called "food mafia," particularly Tetyana Glynyana's company, which supplied the famous eggs by 17 hrn," says Tregub. She expressed hope that the Ministry of Defense will still be able to attract new suppliers and arrange purchases directly from manufacturers. "It is impossible to break corruption mechanisms that have existed for decades in six months under the conditions of a full-scale invasion. But the process is going in the right direction", – believes Tregub.
Another important priority for Anti-Corruption Council was to oversee the selection of employees for the anti-corruption department of the Ministry of Defense. This department should help strengthen the ministry's anti-corruption capabilities. In particular, members of the Anti-Corruption Council ensured that people with a negative reputation for corruption did not enter the department. "Fortunately, this did not happen, but another problem arose. Due to low salaries, good specialists were not submitted to the department," says Olena Tregub. – "We believe that combating corruption in the Ministry of Defense should be a high priority for our state during the war. You can't spare money for this."
Currently, the powers of the first members of the council have already expired, and re-elections to the Anti-Corruption Council are currently being planned. An independent selection commission is currently being formed. "There will be members of public organizations known in Ukraine. The commission's secretary will be an expert from the Ministry of Defense, one of the heads of the anti-corruption department. The electronic voting mechanism of the NAPC, which proved itself very well during the first elections, will be used," Tregub said.
The first "experimental" year of the Anti-Corruption Council's work demonstrated that the Ministry of Defense needs such an advisory body. He pushes for reforms and criticizes even the reformers if he sees that they are succumbing to the pressure of the old system.
The material was prepared based on the results of the live broadcast on the NAKO Facebook page from April 12, 2024.