Geneva, the 27th of April – The Organized Crime Observatory (OCO) released a special report on organized crime and public corruption in Ukraine, featuring assessments and trends based on exclusive statistics collected in the field.

“Ukraine and the EU: Overcoming criminal exploitation toward a modern democracy?” is the result of an extensive research, conducted from September 2013 to January 2014 in partnership with the University Observatory on Security (Geneva, Switzerland), the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (Fairfax, USA) and the Basel Institute on Governance (Basel, Switzerland).

Ukraine is in the spotlights since the beginning of the EuroMaïdan in late 2013. Although the country is part of numerous initiatives against corruption and organized crime, results haven’t been thoroughly evaluated in the light of the recent events.

Despite the numerous political changes, Ukraine remains among the most corrupt countries in the world. Among many conclusions, the report exposes widespread conflicts of interest due to a high impact of oligarchic groups on state decision-making. In addition for threatening democracy, these issues severely impede Ukraine’s relationship with the EU.

See our full report here.