Zelenskyy signs into law opening of Ukrainian officials’ e-declarations

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the law on the return and opening of electronic declarations of Ukrainian officials, according to the Ukrainian parliament’s website.

In early September, the Ukrainian parliament voted to restore e-declaration for officials and members of councils and the parliament, but refused to adopt the main amendment on the immediate opening of the registers.

However, the president vetoed this law, calling restrictions on declaration "unacceptable", and the parliament again passed an amended law on the immediate restoration of e-declaration.

E-declarations, introduced in Ukraine back in 2016, was one of the European Union’s requirements for granting the visa-free regime. Since then, it has become an important tool of controlling officials’ illicit enrichment.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, the registry of e-declarations was closed from the public for fear Russia could use it to target government and local officials.

However, calls were growing for the Ukrainian authorities to reopen the registry in the light of a number of corruption scandals and as part of Kyiv’s ambitions to start accession negotiations with the EU later this year.