Anti-Corruption Review of Chernivtsi City Council
The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has concluded a scheduled review of the Chernivtsi City Council's anti-corruption efforts, uncovering significant failures. The findings highlight systemic issues within a key regional administration in western Ukraine. The major violations identified include:
- the failure to establish a dedicated anti-corruption unit,
- six instances of conflict of interest involving heads of educational institutions,
- and non-compliance with the provisions of its Integrity Plan.
NACP Findings and Directives
The NACP determined that the city council's deputies voted against creating an authorized unit for corruption prevention and detection in both 2021 and 2024. This has left the organization without proper internal mechanisms to combat corrupt practices. Furthermore, the agency documented six conflict-of-interest cases related to heads of educational institutions under the council's Education Department, where relatives were found to be employed, breaching ethical standards.
The NACP issued six mandatory instructions to the head of the Education Department, ordering official investigations into the uncovered facts. Another critical failing is that, as of December 2025, 143 legal entities under the council's jurisdiction had not been connected to the Unified Whistleblower Reporting Portal, indicating a severe lack of operational transparency. These collective shortcomings underscore an urgent need for comprehensive reform in the city council's anti-corruption framework. The absence of basic safeguards like a dedicated unit and a functional whistleblower system erodes public trust and creates an environment where misconduct can go unchecked.
The violations documented by the NACP point to profound flaws in the Chernivtsi City Council's approach to preventing corruption. The lack of a specialized unit and the prevalence of conflicts of interest can significantly undermine public confidence in local governance. This situation stresses the vital importance of implementing effective preventive mechanisms and ensuring transparency across all levels of municipal administration.