Despite War, Ukraine Pushes Reforms to Join OECD

Ukraine expects to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2026.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal stated this during the opening of the OECD ministerial in Paris, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

"Despite war, Ukraine continues to implement reforms in all areas to strengthen the economy and create a foundation for joining the club of developed nations. We expect to join the OECD next year," the head of government noted.

He recalled that "two years ago, the OECD Program for Ukraine was launched in Paris. Then we initiated a productive dialogue for our country's accession to the organization".

According to Shmyhal, "over these two years, together with the OECD, we have launched 23 measures and joined eight legal instruments," in particular, we have created and launched anti-corruption infrastructure, practically implemented the State Anti-Corruption Program, which meets 80% of OECD criteria, and scaled up digitalization.

"Such tools as the Unified State Open Data Web Portal, the Prozorro electronic procurement system, and the DREAM digital ecosystem for accountable recovery are already showing a positive effect while we are conducting comprehensive deregulation. We have already abolished up to 2,000 regulatory instruments in various sectors of the economy, eliminated bureaucratic barriers to business operations, and brought a number of legal acts closer to European standards," Shmyhal said.

In addition, he said, there has been progress in implementing OECD standards in the field of privatization and corporatization. Revenues from privatization exceeded the target by 2.5 times.

A lot of work has also been done on the triage of state-owned enterprises, and a list of state-owned companies where independent supervisory boards shall be established has been outlined.

"The Economic Review of Ukraine presented by the OECD recorded positive dynamics of reforms in managing public investments and in creating a favorable investment environment. Also, the Integrity Review noted significant progress in Ukraine in combating corruption," Shmyhal emphasized.

According to him, "as a result of the reforms, cases of everyday corruption experienced by Ukrainians in recent years has decreased from 70% to 15%. This is an indicator that shufts the paradigm of the state's development from post-Soviet to European."

Shmyhal thanked the OECD and Secretary General Mathias Cormann for their leadership and continued fruitful cooperation.

As reported earlier, Shmyhal outlined promising areas for investment in Ukraine at a meeting in Paris with representatives of French business and Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and French Citizens Abroad Laurent Saint-Martin.