Ukrainian parliament restores accountability for false asset declarations

Ukrainian lawmakers on Friday approved a draft law that would restore accountability for false asset declarations by officials, improving the government's chances of securing more foreign aid for an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ukrainian lawmakers on Friday approved a draft law that would restore accountability for false asset declarations by officials, improving the government's chances of securing more foreign aid for an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote sought to repair the damage from a decision taken by the Constitutional Court in October to strike down some anti-corruption laws.

But many lawmakers criticized Friday's vote as not going far enough, as criminal liability for false asset declarations only begins at sums above 9 million hryvnias ($318,302) under the new measure. Speaker Dmytro Razumkov called it a compromise and hoped President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would sign the legislation into law next week.

"It was a matter of principle for us to restore criminal responsibility and we did it," he said. "Second, it was important for us to put pressure on those people who ... do not want to declare."