E-declaration for anti-corruption actors threatens to end Kyiv School of Economics, director

Honorary President of Kyiv School of Economics, vice-chair of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine Tymofiy Mylovanov said that obligatory e-declarations for anti-corruption organizations and members of supervisory boards of state companies threatens existence of this educational institution. He reported this in his Facebook entry, Interfax-Ukraina reports. According to him, because governmental procurers are trained in Kyiv School of Economics, and because the School studies governmental procures, it falls under obligatory e-declarations law. “Everyone has to declare - foreign researchers who live in the US, directors of European research institutes, professors from European and American Universities, who were coming here to teach. And, of course, all Ukrainians, directors and employees”, he pointed out. Mylovanov said that one of the School directors already resigned starting from March 30 - in a day before deadline he was supposed to file e-declaration. “Four others said that they consider doing the same”, Mylovanov added. “Today, because of the actions of Ukrainian authorities, many school directors consider resignation. I received first resignation application today in the morning (March 19 - ed.). If all board resigns - the school is gone. If all foreign directors go, the school becomes an isolated and local university of low level”, he also wrote. As IMI reported, on March 19, representatives of NGOs, advocacy and anti-corruption organizations stepped forward with a demand to the Parliament to cancel obligatory e-declarations for civil society members within the session week on March 20-23 - without a discriminatory norm of increasing reporting requirements for NGOs. The organizations consider draft No.6271 a choice that has no alternatives. On March 30, 2017, in Ukraine, law became effective that amended Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On prevention of corruption”, according to which the members of anti-corruption NGOs are bound to file e-declarations starting from January 1, 2018. Since then, many organizations, foundations and NGOs, both national and international, as well as many countries, criticized this legislation and appealed to withdraw it.