Draft Law No. 16161 will direct funds from corrupt officials to defense needs instead of private foundations
A draft law No. 16161 has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada, providing for the transfer of funds from corruption case defendants to a state budget special fund. It is proposed that money paid under plea agreements be directed directly to the needs of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. This was reported by Minfin, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
According to the provisions of the legislative initiative, amounts received from corrupt officials should be used for the procurement, modernization, and repair of weapons and military equipment. Furthermore, the possibility of allocating these resources for the payment of salaries to military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is provided for.
The discussion regarding changing the order of using such funds arose due to a practice where suspects transferred a portion of payments under plea agreements not to the state, but to private charitable foundations. Such precedents have drawn criticism from the public and judicial authorities due to the inability to properly control the spending of these funds.
Legal precedents and disputes
One of the high-profile cases was the agreement concerning the former Acting Head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashynskyi. According to Transparency International Ukraine, the total amount he is required to direct for the benefit of the state and defense forces is approximately 1.1 billion UAH, with a portion of these funds earmarked for transfer to charitable foundations.
In another episode, the High Anti-Corruption Court refused to approve an agreement involving Member of Parliament Oleksandr Kachnyi. The judge expressed doubt regarding whether the condition of transferring 3 million UAH through a charitable foundation serves the public interest, as such expenditures are beyond the control of the court and the parties to the proceedings. Despite the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office’s disagreement with this position, the issue of centralizing such payments in budget accounts has become key to this new initiative.
Risks of introducing a new mechanism
Despite the state’s desire to accumulate additional resources for defense, experts point to a number of risks. In particular, there is a danger of insufficient protection of the rights of victims if the law does not distinguish between payments under plea agreements and funds that should go towards compensation for damages.
Moreover, the mere fact that money enters the budget does not guarantee its effective and transparent expenditure without a proper system of reporting and auditing for defense procurement. There is also a threat that financial payments will become the priority criterion for concluding agreements, which could negatively affect the establishment of facts regarding offenses and the delivery of fair sentences.
Currently, the draft law is awaiting consideration in parliamentary committees. If passed, the state will receive a centralized tool for financing military needs using funds obtained through criminal proceedings, which should replace the ambiguous practice of transfers to the accounts of private charitable organizations.
Photo: Minfin
