“The court’s decision is a significant achievement both for me personally and for the entire anti-corruption system in general,” says Euhen Shevchenko, “For the first time in the history of Ukraine, a citizen will receive a decent reward from the state for exposing a crime of corruption. This brings the role of a whistleblower to a new level.”
Shevchenko is a former agent at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine who, back in 2020, reported a $6 million attempt to bribe the heads of the agency. The court made the final decision on the case in October 2023, making the accused parties donate all the bribe money to Ukraine’s defense system and rewarding Shevchenko for his whistleblowing. The man received more than $350,000, and he now hopes to train potential whistleblowers on how to expose corruption.
Shevchenko’s case is strongly linked to Ukraine’s new law on corruption prevention, which requires the state to create an inside channel for corruption reporting. The law also sets out the requirements needed to become a whistleblower, security guarantees, and financial rewards for those exposing crimes.
Within the framework of the law, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention launched a single whistleblower reporting portal. The portal, which is a part of Ukraine’s anti-corruption program for the next two years, was set up in September 2023.
In less than three months it received nearly 700 reports, helping insiders – people working for state institutions – to disclose corruption and other wrongdoing through a simple online application.
Fears of whistleblowing
Nearly 90 percent of Ukrainians consider corruption one of the most pressing issues in the country – yet only 1 in 10 Ukrainians is willing to actively report it if they see or experience any wrongdoing. This disparity stems from many reasons, such as the country’s Soviet past where any attempts to dissent against the state violations were severely punished.
“There is still some fear to report on corruption among the people,” says Anastasia Renkas, “The concept of a whistleblower was ephemeral and hard to understand in the past, and it had negative connotations.”
Renkas is the head of the development department of the Whistleblower Institute at Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention. Her team is behind the single whistleblower reporting portal.
“Previously, to report on violations inside an institution, you’d need to look up its contact information,” the expert explains, “You could try calling their helplines, sending emails, or reaching out to the media or external watchdogs. However, this required a lot of additional steps which complicated the process – and this discouraged a lot of potential whistleblowers.”
In addition, there were security concerns on reporting violations, as many employees feared repercussions from their employers if they pointed out some corruption or other wrongdoing.
“So, the new portal creates this unified solution for potential whistleblowers,” Renkas says, “It simplifies the reporting process because you can simply go to the website, follow easy steps, and fill in the form – and you can expect an inquiry into your case with relevant authorities verifying the data you provided and following up with you on possible corruption investigations.”
Becoming a whistleblower
The way the unified portal works is relatively simple. A person goes to the website and fills in relevant information through an online form. The more data one provides, the better, because it then serves as a foundation for those examining it. The authorities have 10 days to analyze the information sent to them via the form – and within this timeframe, they have to inform the person on any updates. Different agencies can verify the data sent through the portal. For example, in case someone reports on disciplinary violations or unethical conduct, the checking of the data takes places within the organization in question.
For potential criminal cases such as corruption the information can be verified by such agencies like the police, State Investigative Agency, or the General Prosecutor’s Office. The person who filed the report can see who’s verifying the data, under which law, and what’s the status of the claim.
While everyone can report on corruption or another wrongdoing, not everyone is granted the status of a whistleblower, however. To get that, a person needs to have a professional connection to an organization one is reporting on – such as being an employee, a consultant, or a service provider there. Further, one needs to experience the violation firsthand and provide relevant and verifiable information, such as names, dates and more data to show that a bribery or another crime took place.
“Getting a whistleblower’s status means being protected by the anti-corruption law,” Renkas explains, “It also guarantees a reward to a whistleblower in case the case they reported on is a criminal one – such as corruption investigation. The reward is up to 10 percent of the sum involved in the corruption case, but it cannot exceed 3000 minimal salaries.”
“In October, a decision was made to award the first reward to the whistleblower,” she continues, “The whistleblower will receive more than $300,000. So you can imagine the scope of the corruption in this case, and the importance of reporting and investigating this.”
What lies ahead
“The portal is dictated by the contemporary reality, such as Ukraine transforming into a “state in a smartphone,” Renkas says, “It is a part of our digitalization strategy that allows people to blow the whistle either anonymously, without any data about themselves, or confidentially, where they leave us some information.”
In either case, a person can become a whistleblower and track the status of one’s report, as well as see if its leads to any investigations.
Now, with hundreds of reports filing it from Ukrainians, the importance of the platform is increasing. For instance, all state institutions have to join the portal and explain to their employees how to use it – and many organizations asked to be connected ahead of schedule due to public interest.
“Thanks to the portal, we have more quality reports, and people see that they can have a real impact,” Renkas explains, “People realize their rights and obligations – such as reporting on corruption. When a person reports something through the portal, they usually come prepared having read and understood their rights.”
“So the portal had this educational impact,” she adds, “It helped more people understand what whistleblowing was, and how it can contribute to a positive change. We see more high-quality reports from people providing important evidence that can be further verified and used for investigations.”
“What’s more,” she adds, “people are now less afraid to report given the anonymity of the platform, so they report more. People are more interested in the concept of whistleblower because they see how it can serve their organizations or the country. We already see the change in the culture toward whistleblowers, and we expect more positive results.”
Balancing the risks and benefits
“The idea of creating a tool like this one is great because it gives more people a chance to report on corruption from within their office in an anonymous way,” says Yanina Korniyenko, “It can really increase the number of cases revealing corruption.”
Korniyenko is a journalist at Slidstvo.info, Ukraine’s leading investigative media. “Global experience shows that whistleblowers usually come to journalists,” she says, “So Ukrainian authorities decided to create a consolidated platform to fill in this gap in corruption reporting. The positive aspect is that it can lead to better investigations and an improvement in the system.”
However, the journalist points out potential threats for whistleblowers and for the platform as a whole, such as security challenges. Primarily, many state-run websites have experienced data leakages in the past as well as hackers’ attacks, which led to a lot of sensitive information getting published online. There is also an issue of trust.
“The law enforcement agencies in Ukraine often have some links with politicians,” Korniyenko says, “So if whistleblowers uncover some violations on the highest level – like within these same law enforcement agencies or on the governmental level and so on, there may a risk that National Agency for Corruption Prevention may reveal their personal data.”
This may be done out of personal interests so as to find out the identity of a whistleblower – and it may be relatively easy to do if a person leaves a lot of personal details when filing one’s corruption claim.
“As a journalist, I find it hard to believe the authorities completely,” observes Korniyenko. “After all, our job is to control and watch over their activities. I assume that the biggest bulk of whistleblowers will be reporting on wrongdoings inside the law enforcement agencies and this portal, so there are many security risks with such a centralized system.”
