On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), www.USUBC.org, held a roundtable with 6 members of the Verkhovna Rada [Parliament] of Ukraine from the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy in New York City. The 6 parliamentarians were: Olena Moshenets, Deputy Chair of the Committee; Volodymyr Kabachenko, Secretary of the Committee, Roman Ivanisov, Ivan Shynkarenko, Valerii Sternichuk, and Oleksandr Tkachenko, members of the Committee. All of them were recently elected to the new Verkhovna Rada either through the party list of the “Servant of the People” Party, or through the single mandate electoral districts also with the same party; Mr. Kabachenko represents the Batkivshchyna Party.

The meeting was held at the offices of First Wall Street Capital/Starr Strategic Holdings. First Wall Street Capital is a member of USUBC.  

The roundtable was moderated by Morgan Williams, President, USUBC. 

The Verkhovna Rada members shared the stories of running for their seats in the national legislature, as well as their background stories and the reasons they decided to run for the Verkhovna Rada.

The new parliamentarians explained the importance of the first four major laws related to fighting corruption which were passed by the Verkhovna Rada recently. They also presented their vision for moving forward with the anti-corruption agenda in the legislature which would enhance business environment in Ukraine, as well as underscored the role of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy in the overall functioning of the Verkhovna Rada where their Committee reviews every draft law which goes to the Verkhovna Rada floor for voting to identify the potential risks of corruption and proposes the changes to the draft laws which would eliminate such corruption risks.

The Verkhovna Rada members indicated that they seek cooperation with the U.S. business community and civil society, as well with their counterparts in the U.S. legislature, in order to learn the standard policies and practices which exist to prevent and minimize corruption in the legislature, the business and the society in general. One of the mandates of the Committee is to incorporate the EU and other western legislation into Ukraine’s own legislation.