In January-May 2025, Ukrainian courts issued 2,032 decisions in cases related to corruption. This is 37% more than in the same period in 2024. This is reported by Opendatabot , noting that the upward trend is associated with the return of mandatory declaration for civil servants.
After a decline during the Great War (2022–2023), when filing declarations was not mandatory due to martial law, the anti-corruption system's activity revived again. In 2024, almost 5,000 declarations were filed — including those that had not been filed in previous years.
The most decisions are for violations of financial control
Over 73% of decisions (1,487 cases) in 2025 concern violations of financial control requirements — mostly related to late filing of declarations or errors in them. This is almost five times more than last year.
In contrast, other types of corruption crimes are less common:
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Only 347 decisions were made for bribery — half as many as last year;
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for conflict of interest - only 70 convictions, which is 80% less.
Violators are most actively punished in the following regions:
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Vinnytsia region — 182 decisions;
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Odesa — 168;
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Lviv — 147;
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Dnipropetrovsk — 116;
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Kyiv — 115.
Realistic deadlines are the exception, not the rule
In 97% of cases, corrupt officials were fined from 850,000 to 680,000 hryvnias. Only 44 individuals received actual prison terms, and this usually applies to more serious crimes.
Thus, the highest fine — 680 thousand hryvnias — was imposed by the court on a graduate student of the Kyiv Music Academy who helped foreigners enter the educational institution for a reward. And the most severe punishment — 10 years in prison — was given to a sergeant in Sumy Oblast who appropriated and sold military equipment: a thermal imager and a night vision device.
Corrupt people can be removed from the Register
Currently, individuals convicted of corruption offenses are placed on the Register of Corrupt Persons for life. Exceptions include the annulment of a court decision, acquittal, or confirmed participation in the defense of the state during war.
However, the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Sytnyk v. Ukraine on April 24, 2025, recognized such lifelong registration as a violation of the right to private life. The argument is that prolonged public stigmatization damages the reputation and trust in a person.
The President of Ukraine is currently considering a bill that proposes to change the approach — to limit the stay on the register to one year for those who have been brought to administrative, rather than criminal, liability.
