Yesterday at 20:25
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman expressed this opinion in an interview with Forbes magazine, which was later published on his Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/volodymyrgroysman/posts/649697158532535
“I will not deny there are certain areas where corruption is flourishing. However, the number of areas where corruption flourishes, is obviously declining,” Groysman said.
He recalled that about $10 billion USD had been transferred annually in Ukraine through public procurement, which had been carried out with the help of very suspicious programs. However, the government introduced a new, transparent system of public procurement called ProZorro.
“The functioning electronic procurement system does not leave corrupt officials, who earlier appropriated billions of dollars, a chance. In addition, all the public funds are concentrated now exclusively in the budget. Previously, all the financial resources were accumulated in a single budget. In other words, all the resources were centralized. That was a reason for corruption and bribes,” the Prime Minister said.
Groysman said that finances were decentralized and about $4 billion USD were allocated to local budgets. The government also managed to abolish the natural gas pricing scheme, where corruption thrived.
“I will be absolutely honest with you, without sugar coating it. I believe many of our enemies are interested in destabilizing Ukraine and they always bring up the problem of corruption in our country. They constantly repeat that corruption is widespread. And they do it everywhere, including abroad. From time to time I face this problem and I think it is exaggerated,” Groysman said.
