For many Ukrainian companies (and not only those affected by the FCPA/UKBA) the year of 2014 will be marked as a point of no return in their compliance efforts undertaken so far. On 14 October 2014, the Ukrainian parliament enacted a set of the following new anticorruption laws that will significantly reshape the Ukrainian legal regulation and enforcement in the anticorruption area:
Unlike previous attempts of the Ukrainian legislator to reform this widely spoken area, this time companies operating in Ukraine will have to take the new legislation seriously. Section X of the Law on Preventing Corruption, dealing with preventing corruption in legal entities, requires special attention of the companies. This Section X provided, in particular, for the following:
In addition to the above important legal novelties, the Law on Preventing Corruption:
Importantly, the new anticorruption legislation preserved the earlier established serious criminal liability (up to approximately EUR 77,000) of the companies for the actions of their authorized persons performed on their behalf and in their interests.
Based on the above, it is highly recommended for all companies operating in Ukraine to adopt a compliance program (approve a written internal anticorruption policy) to adequately address at least the most serious corruption risks it may face in its activities.
For more information, please contact Svitlana Kheda.