Procedure approved for conducting anti-corruption expertise of major investment projects and assessing their impact on the competitive environment
A joint resolution of the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Committee for Competition Development and Consumer Protection approved the Regulation “On the Procedure for Conducting Anti-Corruption Expertise of Major Investment Projects and Assessing Their Impact on the Competitive Environment.”
The Regulation applies to major investment projects implemented through the attraction of financial resources equivalent to at least USD 50 million, aimed at the creation, expansion, or modernization of economically and socially significant facilities, services, or other infrastructure.
In accordance with the Regulation, a project may not be approved or moved to the next stage of implementation unless anti-corruption expertise and an assessment of its impact on the competitive environment have been conducted.
Major investment projects shall undergo mandatory anti-corruption expertise at the following stages:
project initiation stage;
public procurement stage;
implementation stage.
The Regulation also approves:
a checklist consisting of 30 questions for identifying corruption risks in major investment projects;
a checklist consisting of 16 questions for assessing the impact of major investment projects on the competitive environment.
The anti-corruption expertise shall be conducted by the internal anti-corruption control units of state bodies and organizations.
Based on the results of the expertise, the corruption risk level of a project shall be classified as follows:
▫️ high risk — where 10 or more corruption factors are identified;
▫️ medium risk — where 5 to 9 corruption factors are identified;
▫️ low risk — where 1 to 4 corruption factors are identified;
▫️ no corruption risk identified — where no corruption factors are identified.
The assessment of a project’s impact on the competitive environment shall be conducted simultaneously with, or after, the anti-corruption expertise.
The assessment shall be carried out by internal anti-corruption control units and/or responsible anti-monopoly compliance officers in state bodies and organizations where an anti-monopoly compliance system has been introduced.
Based on the assessment results, the project’s risk level regarding its impact on the competitive environment shall be classified as follows:
▫️ high risk — where 4 or more factors potentially restricting competition are identified;
▫️ medium risk — where 2 to 3 factors potentially restricting competition are identified;
▫️ low risk — where 1 factor potentially restricting competition is identified;
▫️ no risk identified — where no factors potentially restricting competition are identified.
The conclusions and checklists resulting from the expertise and assessment shall be subject to mandatory consideration at collegial meetings of state bodies and organizations authorized to approve or finance the project.
A project may not be approved, financed, or subject to contractual agreement without consideration of the expertise and assessment results.
If a negative conclusion is issued based on the expertise or assessment, the project may not be approved until the identified deficiencies are eliminated.
Once the deficiencies have been addressed, the project shall undergo repeated anti-corruption expertise and/or reassessment of its impact on the competitive environment.
The full text of the Regulation is available via the relevant link.
Press Service
of the Anti-Corruption Agency