Rampant coercion, corruption and impunity have reached alarming levels in Ukraine, prompting businesses to raise their voices in protest. Ukraine, a country already 121 of the 123 most corrupt countries in the world, has grown far worse in this regard since the war broke out. The business community is demanding action.

The Federation of Employers of Ukraine, representing Ukrainian entrepreneurs, issued an appeal to President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, demanding action to curb the abuse of power by government officials. The abuse of power by military officials and judges has crossed all limits, according to Ukrainian entrepreneurs, who are calling for the establishment of a public registry to identify corrupt officials. They argue that corruption on an unprecedented scale is eroding Ukraine’s defensive capabilities.

Despite the ongoing war, they contend that the level of coercion, corruption and impunity among state officials is currently the highest in history, as reported by the Ukrainian Pravda news portal.

‘In extremely difficult conditions of war, Ukrainian business has become the pillar of the state. Paying taxes, volunteer projects, supporting the armed forces and investing, protecting jobs, and ensuring stable payment of salaries are signs of normality for citizens, which businesses provide in these difficult times,’ stated the manifesto signed by 42 heads of both small and large companies with thousands of employees.

‘The unjust exercise of the power of bribe-takers in uniforms and judicial robes has reached intolerable levels. Given the ongoing war, such behaviour goes beyond mere criminality,’ the document reads. ‘Anyone who engages in extortion and sells the honour of a uniform or judge’s robe for bribes during wartime must be held accountable,’ the entrepreneurs wrote in their appeal to President Zelensky.

They emphasized that corruption on an unprecedented scale undermines Ukraine’s defensive capabilities since the military is funded by taxes, and the abuse of power by Ukrainian bureaucrats has already caused two waves of emigration of entrepreneurs from Ukraine.

‘Because the plunderers in the state service are confident that they can act without consequences, the business community takes up this challenge. We will create a public register of corrupt law enforcement officers and judges,’ the entrepreneurs wrote, urging the president to use his powers and intervene. They expressed their readiness to provide the names of service personnel and judicial representatives who extort bribes or unlawfully seize enterprises.

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