Anti-graft watchdog hopes president not to sign law helping corrupt officials disappear from register

The Chairman of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, Oleksandr Novikov, hopes President Volodymyr Zelensky will not sign into law the bill that will practically contribute to those convicted for corruption-related offenses being removed from the relevant unified register.

The official noted this in an interview with Radio Liberty, Ukrinform reports.

"As of today, a bill is yet to be signed by the president, which will actually delete from the relevant register those involved in corruption or corruption-related offenses,” he stated.

Novikov stressed that if the law comes into force, personal data on over 10,000 former officials convicted for corruption-related offenses will be deleted from the Unified Register of corrupt officials.

At the same time, he noted that after being removed from the register, these individuals would eventually be able to participate in public procurement work, which he believes poses a great risk.

"We hope that the president will not sign off this law," the head of the NACP concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the NACP has initiated an anti-corruption vetting of the two bills amending the process of prosecution for corruption offenses.