NABU chief Sytnyk pays tribute to ‘support of the public and western partners’ at EUAM-supported workshop in Kharkiv
September 13, 2016
Speaking alongside the EU Advisory Mission’s (EUAM) Kharkiv Regional Presence Coordinator Gerrit Jan van Gelder on Saturday 10 September 2016, the Head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk highlighted the challenges facing the newly created body and underlined the importance of public and international support in setting up NABU.
Mr Van Gelder and Mr Sytnyk were speaking at a EUAM-supported anti-corruption workshop in Kharkiv aimed at members of civil society, the media, lawyers, local officials and young people active in the fight against corruption. Presentations during the whole-day session were given by representatives of NABU, EUAM and the National Reform Council, providing the audience with updates on current activities, attitudes to corruption in Ukraine, anti-corruption best practice in EU Member States and the importance of effective communication in fighting corruption. Sixty-six members of the public were present.
“NABU was only launched due to the support of the public and western partners,” said Mr Sytnyk, who emphasised that NABU’s resources were limited when compared to the private security arrangements of certain powerful figures. He noted that giving NABU the power to wiretap suspects independently would significantly improve its capacity and that the creation of the specialised anti-corruption court would boost the fight against corruption. These comments were supported later in the day by Clemens Mueller, EUAM Senior Anti-Corruption Adviser, who added, “The only people who benefit from inter-institutional rivalries are criminals”.
The workshop was given as part of a series of seminars on anti-corruption activities in Ukraine organised by NABU and EUAM, with the first two having taken place in Odesa and Lviv on 29 July and 19 August 2016 respectively. The last event in the series will take place in mid-October in Kyiv.
