A scandal around a member of the parliament, a member of the group “Volia Narodu” (“People’s Will”) Oleksandr Onyschenko, who used to hide the gas profit of his companies for many years, can be another example. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine investigators identified the sequence and the money laundering chain for money related to implementation of agreements on joint operation with the participation of companies affiliated with Onyschenko.
These and other scandals stimulate thinking on the need for disclosure of information that is of crucial importance for the government and citizens. One of the ways is publication of contracts signed between companies and governments. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Standard, currently implemented by more than 50 countries around the world, encourages disclosure of contracts. It means that all agreements granting the rights for development (exploration, extraction, use) of natural resources must be opened for public access.
Given the fact that natural – in particular energy – resources in most countries belong to the citizens, the latter have the right to know the terms on which the government grants companies the right to use them. If citizens do not have access to contracts, they cannot trace fulfillment of investment and other obligations of an investor, and identify possible violations of those obligations.
Currently, 25 countries around the world have already implemented this part of the EITI Standard and opened the respective contracts. Each of them has its own legislative framework for publication of contracts. For example, in Nigeria and Philippines it is articulated in the constitution, while it is regulated by laws in the Republic of Congo and Tanzania.
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