IMF
Blasts Ukraine’s Move to Curb Anti-Corruption Agencies
By Nazmul
Ahasan and Eric Martin
July 24,
2025 at 5:00 PM GMT+2
Updated
on July 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM GMT+2
The
International Monetary Fund blasted Ukraine’s recent move to strip the nation’s
anti-corruption agencies of their independence, calling for a reversal of the
decision and warning about damage to the economy.
“The
enacted law, as we see it, it neutralizes the effectiveness of Ukraine’s
anti-corruption institutions,” IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said at a press
briefing Thursday. “From our perspective, that would be very problematic for
macroeconomic stability and growth in Ukraine.”
Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday signed a bill backed earlier by
Ukrainian lawmakers, dismissing protests by the opposition and anti-graft
groups and allies that such a move would set back the war-battered nation’s
efforts to fight corruption. But on Thursday, he submitted a new law to
parliament in an effort to quell public outrage.
The
Washington-based IMF has made the development of independent institutions to
detect and prosecute graft “central” to its engagement with Ukraine over the
past decade, Kozack said. “That will help level the playing field, improve the
business climate and attract private investment into Ukraine, and it’s a
central piece of of Ukraine’s reform agenda.”
“We do
take note of the government’s intention to introduce a new bill to restore the
independence of the anti-corruption institutions,” she said.
IMF staff
will “intensify discussions” with Ukraine in the coming weeks about its
financing needs in 2026 and over the medium term, Kozack also said.
(Updates
with new Zelenskiy move in third paragraph.)
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