The 12th EITI and PWYP Eurasia Regional Meeting was held in Lviv on 27-30 September 2016 by the Secretariat of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Publish What You Pay (PWYP), National Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), and the International Renaissance Foundation. The meeting was attended by the representatives of ten EITI country members of the Eurasian region.
The 12th EITI and PWYP Eurasia Regional Meeting was held in Lviv on 27-30 September 2016 by the Secretariat of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Publish What You Pay (PWYP), National Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), and the International Renaissance Foundation. The meeting was attended by the representatives of ten EITI country members of the Eurasian region.
“We can see that fraud and corruption in extractive industry has been a major problem for many countries. Ukraine is no exception in this regard. Corruption in the mining sector creates significant obstacles to attracting foreign investment and maintaining energy independence of Ukraine. Therefore, the international initiatives like EITI are crucial for our country to combat corruption and create an attractive environment for investment”, – said Oleksiy Orlovsky, the Democratic Practice Program Initiative Director and EITI International Board member.
The purpose of the meeting was to work out mechanisms for implementing the EITI Standard, open data policy, and beneficial ownership in the extractive industries and discuss the role of CSOs in these processes. NRGI Eurasia Director Galib Efendiyev believes that extractive industries transparency is evermore important today when governments are prioritizing maximizing profits over good governance. Therefore, CSOs should address these issues through more systematized, technically sound and evidence driven advocacy efforts and promote dialogue between government and business on transparency of extracting companies. “One of the main challenges for CSOs is verifying data and obtaining reliable information from the companies that refuse to provide information fearing competition”, – thinks Kaliya Moldohaziyeva, a participant from Kyrgyzstan and the NGOs Consortium member.
“Disclosure of beneficial ownership has gained incredible popularity and support among world leaders after the Panama Papers and anti-corruption campaigns. EITI required disclosing such information even back in 2013. Now 51 EITI countries committed to make beneficial ownership information open and available. This is a huge achievement, because a few years ago, this topic was considered taboo in many countries implementing EITI. Central Asia and the Caucasus have different experience in introducing transparency rules for beneficiaries compared to Ukraine. For example, in Kyrgyzstan extracting companies are required to disclose their beneficiaries when obtaining a license. A lot of work has been done among governments, MPs, CSOs, businesses and donors to make sure beneficial ownership disclosure is among the national priorities. Many companies have agreed to disclose their beneficiaries voluntarily while governments and parliaments are considering regulatory changes. Ukraine plays a leading role in disclosing beneficial ownership information, but in real life there are many challenges, including accountability for failure to provide information, data verification and improvement of the existing register” – said Olyana Valihura, a representative of the EITI Secretariat.
Elisa Peter, the PWYP Executive Director, stressed out the Eurasia meeting brought together PWYP members from 7 countries to discuss their joint strategy to increase transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector throughout the region. In the face of increased restrictions on civil society’s ability to participate in the public debate on natural resource governance in many countries, PWYP will prioritize protecting and expanding civic space. Good governance in the extractive sector can only be achieved where an active, well-informed and independent civil society is able to exercise its fundamental rights of free expression and association. PWYP will also continue to support its members to access, use and analyse payment data to enhance fiscal transparency, as well as building the capacity of civil society organisations to promote beneficial ownership and open contracting in the extractive sector
Additional Information:
In 2007, the International Renaissance Foundation became the first donor in Ukraine promoting transparency in the energy sector and will continue supporting civil society initiatives in the field.
Ukraine joined the EITI in 2013 (ЕІТІ in Ukraine). Last year, it published its first report – see EITI in Ukraine Library for the First National EITI Report of Ukraine and EITI Standard.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative was launched by Publish What You Pay, a global coalition of civil society organizations engaged in budget monitoring. It covers both Africa and Eurasia countries, where governments commit to cooperate and disclose the information. Governments are interested to track revenues that should go to their budgets, especially for social needs.
PWYP fundamental monitoring principles are reflected in the Chain for Change
