The National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (the “NAPC”) introduced new minimum standard for compliance and anticorruption efforts mandatory for large state-owned enterprise and participants of major public procurement.

Updated requirements are set in the document called the Sample Anticorruption Program of Legal Entity[1] (the “Sample Program”) recently approved by the NAPC. The Sample Program was adopted to elaborate on the requirements of the Law “On Prevention of Corruption” (the “Law”) to set forth compliance policies and procedures at legal entities.

The Sample Program is much more detailed than the Law, and introduces concepts and procedures corresponding to international standards of corporate compliance. It implies introduction of practices mundane for the international companies, but part of the local businesses community might be less familiar with them:

• anticorruption risks assessment;
• internal investigations;
• onboarding trainings;
• due diligence of counterparts;
• code of ethics;
• procedures on charitable and political contributions;
• gifts and hospitality procedures.

Overall, the Sample Program provides for more than a dozen of procedures and other documents to compile.  By means of this Program the NAPC obliges companies to keep written track record of anticorruption efforts (for up to 5 years) and to undertake external assessment of corruption risks once in 3 years. 

Without any further clarification, it is stated that the Sample Program establishes minimum mandatory standards.

Considering formalism inherent to Ukrainian legal system, there is a risk that law enforcement and other state agencies may view such statement as a requirement to closely adhere to the mere wording of the Sample Program, rather than focus on the substance of legal entity documents.

Thus, it is advisable to check whether adoption of the Sample Program requires your company to adjust compliance policies and procedures respectively.