Returning the billions to the local budgets

Public anti-corruption initiative to combat billions-worth fraud in land, property and budget spheres. The press conference dedicated to the International Anti-Corruption Day and the presentation of the public anti-corruption initiative "Returning the billions to the local budgets", run jointly by the Open Society Foundation, the “Reanimation package of reforms - Kyiv", the Institute of mass information and the NGO AMDI will take place on December 9 at 15:00 in the conference hall of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (Khreschatyk Str. 27a, 2nd floor).

Public anti-corruption initiative to combat billions-worth fraud in land, property and budget spheres. The press conference dedicated to the International Anti-Corruption Day and the presentation of the public anti-corruption initiative “Returning the billions to the local budgets”, run jointly by the Open Society Foundation, the “Reanimation package of reforms – Kyiv”, the Institute of mass information and the NGO AMDI will take place on December 9 at 15:00 in the conference hall of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (Khreschatyk Str. 27a, 2nd floor).

The lack of openness and the signs of falsification of the information on land registry data and cartographic material of Kyiv General Plan form the basis of corrupt practices worth billions of hryvnias. The authorities violate the rights of citizens to access the accurate and open information about the purpose of Kyiv land. This practice contradicts the Article 13 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which was ratified by Ukraine. The local governments are losing billions of hryvhias.

The effective fight against corruption at the local level begins with openness, clarity and transparency of information on urban development. Public experts will show the new possibilities for the implementation of the anti-corruption public monitoring of land use in Kyiv. The organizers of the event have offered Kyiv authorities to start the actual corruption fight and were willing to find sources to supplement the city budget and to prevent the recurrence of the recent bloody events in Osokorky district of Kyiv.

The Open Society Foundation and an expert of urban planning Victor Gleba, jointly with the partner public organizations will demonstrate how the billions of hryvnias by-pass the city budget. They will explain the patterns behind the land development manipulations. The information about the land fraud was recently made public in the ‘Dzerkalo Tyzhnya’ newspaper in the article “General Plan 2025 for Kyiv: the capital city or the mega-village?”.

To improve the quality of investigative journalism and public monitoring evidence, the participants will be able to ask questions relating to specific land plots and construction projects in the city. The experts will provide the answers based on the urban planning and land inventories, the current General Plan 2020 for Kyiv and the draft 2025 General Plan.

The participants of the event will be able to clearly see how the manipulation of the information of the purpose registers, functional distribution, types of land resources leads to the legalization of the unlawful construction. The anti-corruption initiative will help the city authorities in Kyiv and the other cities of Ukraine to prevent the corruption, and assist with seeking the billions for local budgets.

The organizers offer the local civic activists and journalists to join the anti-corruption initiative “Returning the billions to the local budgets.”

In order to meet the needs of many Kievans, anyone will be able to provide the appropriate online written request with the address of the land plot and learn about its future use. The requests are accepted by e-mail: info@osf.org.ua (before 18:00 of December 8th, 2014).

For further questions please contact: (050) 382 4661 or osf55@ukr.net.

Spelling error report

The following text will be sent to our editors: