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MinterEllison partner develops taskforce to support Ukraine
MinterEllison partner Peter Bartlett has played a leading role in an initiative that will help in Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts.
Jess Feyder
Mr Bartlett is chair of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) legal practice division and has helped to develop a special taskforce that will help Ukraine address and avoid common pitfalls countries make around corruption or poor compliance during the reconstruction process following war or natural disasters.
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The taskforce came about following a speech by Serhiy Derkach, head of the corruption prevention and detection department at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention of Ukraine.
After the speech, Mr Derkach met with Mr Bartlett and expressed his concerns about the corruption risks facing Ukraine in the future, with billions of euros likely to flow into the country for reconstruction — they discussed how the IBA could potentially assist.
Mr Bartlett suggested a special taskforce and secured the support of the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee, the OECD and the IBA leadership.
“Ukraine has recognised the potential for huge corruption that will threaten the country’s development and post-war reconstruction,” Mr Bartlett said.
“Jurisdictions trying to rebuild after devastation often do not receive resources intended for them due to corruption and poor compliance controls.
“This taskforce will bring the global legal community together to help support our Ukrainian partners once reconstruction begins.”
According to the IBA, the taskforce is preparing online training in areas including anti-corruption, whistleblowing, responsible business conduct, conflicts of interest, risk assessments, and the role of compliance officers.
The scope for cooperation ranges from support to compliance programs, consultation on risk assessments and capacity building for the private sector.
Broadly, there will be two main work streams:
- The political, which will define the strategy and communication in relation to other organisations engaged in supporting Ukraine’s anti-corruption efforts, including international financial organisations; and
- The strategic implementation that will initially focus on the review of the new Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Strategy — a guiding document for Ukraine until 2025.
“By adopting the Anti-Corruption Strategy up to the year of 2025, Ukraine has recognised the potential for huge corruption that will threaten the country’s development and post-war reconstruction.
“We highly appreciate the IBA initiative to create the task force to support Ukraine in its endeavours to dispel corruption.”
