Ukraine's former President, Viktor Yushchenko, made fighting corruption a top priority for his administration. However, traditions of transparent decision-making and societal understanding of corporate governance have been lacking. Moreover, there has been a high tolerance of corrupt practices throughout society, and the mind-set of political and economic elites on federal as well as regional levels has been slowing the country's progress towards efficient standards of opposing corruption. Consequently, both petty and grand-scale corruption are thriving in Ukraine. Corruption has had such a sustained impact on companies, state decision-making and the daily lives of citizens, that it is perceived by many to be a normal part of life. The incumbent President Viktor Yanukovych began his anti-corruption efforts by establishing a National Anti-Corruption Committee in February 2010, and ordering it to draft anti-corruption legislation.

Positive developments in relation to corruption and investments:

• In December 2010, Yanukovych submitted a draft Law on Principles of Preventing and Counteracting Corruption to the Parliament. The new anti-corruption law, adopted in April 2011, introduces a broad list of officials who can be held liable for corruption offences as well as stipulating the limits of gifts which may be given to such persons.
• National and local authorities in Ukraine have developed nearly 200 one-stop shops intended to cut the number of standard company registration procedures.
• InvestUkraine, a non-profit investment promotion agency, was established in August 2005 with the support of the government, intended to function as a parastatal one-stop shop for investors. The agency hosts networking conferences and events and has developed a wide range of partnerships with international donors and organisations as well as domestic organisations working with anti-corruption.

Risk of corruption:

• The most frequent areas in which companies encounter corruption in Ukraine are business licensing, taxation and customs. Corrupt practices are still seen by public officials as low risk behaviour, and officials have grown accustomed to supplementing their (low) salaries through corruption.
• There are also reports of government agencies creating fiscal targets for inspection agencies, thus creating quotas for the collection of fines instead of fining in accordance with objective criteria. This leads to the arbitrary fining of companies and greater relative risks for doing business in Ukraine.
• On a more general level, entering the Ukrainian market will almost always require local agents or consultants who can facilitate making the necessary connections or market entry, and some of these third parties might use monetary or other inducements as a method of operation.
• Dispute settlement is reportedly weak, unfair and biased, and companies have little faith in the judiciary's ability to work with vague laws and regulations that leave ample room for subjective interpretation and corruption to occur.