COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Fifth Progress Report on Ukraine's implementation of the action plan on visa liberalisation
Date: 2015-05-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU visa policy, Ukraine, biometrics, border control, corruption, data protection, freedom of movement, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, migration control, money laundering, organised crime, right of asylum, terrorism, trafficking in human beings

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 8.5.2015  
SWD(2015) 104 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
Accompanying the document 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Fifth Progress Report on Ukraine's implementation of the action plan on visa 
liberalisation 

{COM(2015) 200 final} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
1. INTRODUCTION 

The Commission Staff Working Document (CSWD) accompanies the Fifth Progress Report 
on the implementation by Ukraine of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP). 1  

Together with the Report, the CSWD builds on the information and the assessment provided 
in  the  Fourth  Progress  Report  on  the  implementation  by  Ukraine  of  the  VLAP2    and,  in 
accordance with the methodology outlined in the VLAP, it provides a detailed analysis of the 
most  relevant  developments  relating  to  the  implementation  of  the  so-called  second  phase 
VLAP  benchmarks  concerning  the  effective  and  sustainable  implementation  of  relevant 
measures).  Furthermore, annex of the CSWD includes an assessment of possible migratory 
and security impacts on the European Union (EU) of the future visa liberalisation for Ukraine.  
The factual information included in Part I of the CSWD is based on the assessment missions 
led  by  the  European  Commission  services  assisted  by  experts  from  EU  Member  States  to 
Ukraine between 24 September 2014 and 27 March 2015, and updated information  received 
by the Commission from the Ukrainian authorities.  

Annex of the CSWD—the Assessment of Migratory and Security Impacts—is primarily based 
on  the  inputs  provided  by  the  European  Agency  for  the  Management  of  Operational 
Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex); 
the  European  Union’s  law  enforcement  agency  –  Europol;  the  European  Asylum  Support 
Office  (EASO);  the  European  University  Institute  –  Migration  Policy  Centre,  the  European 
Delegation in Kiev as well as other available sources, including Eurostat data.  

The  CSWP  follows  the  VLAP  structure.  Under  the  sections  corresponding  to  individual 
VLAP blocks, The CSWD lists all the benchmarks from the second phase and it describes the 
state  of  their  implementations,  in  particular  focussing  on  the  developments  that  took  place 
after the publication of the fourth Progress Report, that is, 27 May 2014. 

2. ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VLAP 

2.1. Block 1: Document security, including biometrics 

(cid:190)  Gradual  roll-out  of  biometric  international  passports  in  compliance  with  ICAO 
standards,  including  at  Ukrainian  consulates  abroad,  and  phase-out  of  non-
ICAO compliant passports; 

On 12 January 2015 Ukraine started the production of a new type of ordinary passport. This 
new  model  includes  an  e-passport  and  a  non-biometric  passport.  The  e-passport  contains  a 
contactless  chip  that  stores  the  photo,  two  fingerprints  and  the  signature  of  the  holder. 
According  to  the  technical  analysis,  the  security  features  of  this  new  model  of  passport 
comply  with  the  ICAO  recommendations.  Ukraine  is  member  of  ICAO  PKD  and  the 
Ukrainian certificates can be downloaded in order to read and to authenticate the chip.  
By 16 February 2015, 610 working stations for the collection  of the applications have been 
deployed in 25 territorial directorates of the State Migration Service (SMS) which correspond 
to  the  regional  level  (oblast)  and  in  209  territorial  units  of  the  SMS  corresponding  to  the 

1 COM (2015) 200 final. 
2 COM (2014) 336 final. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
district  level.  The  complete  rollout  in  order  to  ensure  the  coverage  of  all  the  territory  is 
planned for the end of 2017. 
Since  1  January  until  2  April  2015,  512  077  passport  applications  have  been  introduced 
including 186 471 for biometric passports and 325 606 for non-biometric. 79 198 biometric 
and  89  479  non-biometric  passports  have  been  released  to  applicants.  68  major  border 
crossing  points  are  equipped  with  passport  readers  for  biometric  travel  documents  which  is 
43% of their total number (157). 
The overall application procedure and the verification of the identity of the applicant remain 
based  on  the  production  of  the  internal  passport  the  security  of  which  remains  a  matter  of 
concern. An inter-agency working group was established with a view of integrating existing 
databases of the law-enforcement agencies and strengthening current verification procedures. 
On 25 March 2015 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the technical description of 
the specimen as well as procedures for issuance of passports of citizen of Ukraine in the form 
of a biometric ID card. The issuance of diplomatic and service passports should start by the 
end of April 2015. 

(cid:190)  High  level  of  integrity  and  security  of  the  application,  personalisation  and 
distribution  process  for  international  passports,  as  well  as  domestic  passports 
and other breeder documents; 

The  personalisation  centre  of  the  passports  is  located  in  the  state  enterprise  Polygraph 
Combine “Ukraina” premises. The moving of this centre from the previous EDAPS premises 
did not result in any reduction of the overall security.  The security measures in force in the 
premises and the access to the different areas ensure a high level of security. Together with 
permanent video monitoring, the access control is secured using fingerprints in order to open 
the  doors  and  authorise  access  to  the  different  areas.  Likewise  the  activity  in  the  different 
areas is monitored. 

The blank documents being produced in the same compound reduce the risk of theft during 
transportation.  A  special  courier  service  ensures  the  secure  shipment  of  the  personalised 
passports to the place of delivery. Quality control according to ISO 18745 Test methods for 
machine-readable travel documents (MRTD) and associated readers is implemented. 

An amendment to the Regulation on Integrated Information Search system of Internal Affairs 
of  Ukraine  will  be  introduced  making  compulsory  the  record  in  the  Search  Information 
system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the information related to a change of name. The 
information  on  changes  to  the  first  name,  the  second  name  or  the  middle  name  will  be 
introduced  with  the  additional  mark  "aka".  This  information  will  be  available  24/7  in  the 
interagency information system for the control of persons crossing the state border. The State 
Migration  Service  has  instructed  its  territorial  divisions  to  implement  the  procedure  for 
invalidating  the  passport(s)  of  the  citizen  of  Ukraine  for  travel  abroad  after  changing  the 
internal passport further to a name change. This procedure is to be applied independently of 
an application for a new passport. 
The information on the passports of Ukraine for traveling abroad invalidated further to a name 
change will be automatically transferred to the State Border Guard Service in order to prevent 
any misuse of an invalidated document. 

The issuance of diplomatic and service passports should start by the end of April 2015. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(cid:190)  Prompt and systematic reporting to Interpol/LASP data base on lost and stolen 
passports;  Regular  exchange  of  passport  specimens  and  cooperation  on 
document security with the EU. 

According  to  the  information  received  from  the  Ukrainian  authorities  the  uploading  of  lost 
and stolen passports in the Interpol database has started.  

2.2. Block 2: Integrated Border Management, Migration Management, and Asylum 

2.2.1. INTEGRATED BORDER MANAGEMENT 

(cid:190)  Effective  implementation  of  the  Law  on  Border  Control  of  November  2009 
through  adequate  border  checks  and  border  surveillance,  procedures  and 
operational effectiveness, situational picture at national, regional and local level, 
including 
intelligence  and  data-flow 
management  as  well  as  direct  access  and  consultation  of  relevant  national  and 
international databases. 

implementation  of  risk  analysis, 

At  Russian  border  only  one  common  border  mark  has  been  installed.  Nevertheless,  both 
border sections are marked with information signs on the Ukrainian side to show the border 
line. Marking of the border with Russia is challenging at the moment and in the foreseeable 
future.  
The State Border Guard Service (SBGS) is the authority responsible for the implementation of 
the  border  security  legislation.  There  are  three  different  types  of  Border  Guard  Units 
subordinated to directorates; units responsible for border checks, units responsible for border 
surveillance and units responsible for both border check and surveillance responsibilities.  

The  State  Targeted  Law  Enforcement  Programme  "Development  and  Reconstruction  of  the 
State Border" for the period  until 2015 aimed at transforming SBGS into a modern European 
type law enforcement agency. The conflict in eastern Ukraine has caused some delays in this 
process and SBGS has been forced to make rearrangements in directing human and financial 
resources towards the areas of conflict.   

Within  the  security  area  adjacent  to  the  territory  not  under  effective  control  of  Ukrainian 
authorities, the main objective of the SBGS is the exercise of control over crossings at 6 entry 
and exit checkpoints in designated road corridors by persons, vehicles and goods. 
Besides  the  designated  road  corridors,  security  measures  are  also  carried  out  at  control 
stations.  Measures  are  being  taken  to  close  down  the  areas  of  movement  of  goods  and 
products  outside  the  6  crossings  from  the  territory  not  under  effective  control  of  Ukrainian 
authorities  by  strengthening  the  technical  components,  including  the  use  of  mobile  and 
portable thermal imaging systems.  

In order to implement the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Border Control" the Cabinet 
of  Ministers  of  Ukraine  approved  "The  procedure  for  verification  of  sufficient  financial 
provisions for foreigners and stateless persons entering into Ukraine, staying on the territory 
of Ukraine, travelling by means of transport on the territory of Ukraine and leaving Ukraine, 
and definition of contribution rate” (№884, 04.12.2013). This procedure sets up a mechanism 
of  determination  of  sufficient  financial  support  of  the  foreigners  and  stateless  persons  for 
entry to Ukraine, stay in the territory of Ukraine, transit through the territory of Ukraine and 
travel  abroad  and  the  volume  of  such  support.  Regulated  by  this  regulation,  foreigners  and 
4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
stateless persons wishing to enter to Ukraine, stay on the territory of Ukraine, transit through 
the territory of Ukraine, unless otherwise provided by the laws, should demonstrate that they 
have up to twenty times the minimum cost of living for one person, which is established in 
Ukraine  on  the  day  of  their  entry  to  Ukraine.  In  1  September  2014  the  sum  was  of  1176 
Hryvnias (≈ 90 Dollar USA) per month. 

The risk analysis system is used to produce periodical strategic analysis products as well as 
tailored analysis products leading to recommendations and operational actions. While a large 
part  of  the  analytical  resources  is  currently  directed  to  the  analysis  of  the  situation  at  the 
eastern borders of Ukraine, it is important to notice that the system has been able to quickly 
adapt its functions according to new emerging threats. This indicates that risk analysis is an 
integral part of SBGS activities and that the risk analysis system is able to implement tasks 
given  from  the  central  level.  There  is  a  common  risk  analysis  methodology  developed  and 
instructed by the central level. However, based on the analytical products its implementation 
could still be improved. 

The regulation on crossing the line of contact in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions is regulated 
by  Order  No.  27  of  22.01.2015  on  the  Approval  of  the  Temporary  Procedure  of  Control  of 
Movement  of  People,  Vehicles  and  Cargo  to/from  Donetsk  and  Lugansk  regions. 
Accordingly, citizens of Ukraine have the right to enter and leave the "anti-terrorist operation 
(ATO) zone" through the block-posts and control points upon presenting Ukrainian passports 
and passes which are issued by ATO Coordination Centre (CC) or ATO Coordination Group 
(CG),  at  the  determined  places.  Further,  foreigners  and  stateless  persons  can  cross  this  line 
with  their  passport  documents  and  passes.  As  of  1  March  2015,  all  holders  of  Russian 
passports  need  to  cross  the  border  only  at  designated  International  BCPs  presenting  valid 
international passport (unlike the past when internal passport was sufficient).  

The  Law  "On  Ensuring  Rights  and  Freedoms  of  Citizens  and  Legal  Regime  on  the 
Temporarily  Occupied  Territory  of  Ukraine"  provides  a  legal  regime  for  the  temporarily 
occupied  territory  (Crimea).  This  includes  provisions  relating  to  crossing  the  administrative 
line  with  the  temporarily  occupied  territory.  Article  10  of  the  Law  guarantees  the  right  of 
Ukrainian citizens to free and unimpeded access  into  the temporarily occupied territory and 
out  of  it  through  the  control  points  of  entry  and  exit  upon  presentation  of  a  document 
confirming  a  person’s  identity  and  citizenship  of  Ukraine.  The  entry  of  foreigners  and 
stateless  persons  into  the  temporarily  occupied  territory  and  exit  is  allowed  only  by  special 
permission through entry and exit control points. 

(cid:190)  Provision  of  adequate  infrastructure,  technical  equipment,  IT  technologies, 
financial  and  human  resources  in  accordance  with  the  IBM  Strategy  to  be 
adopted,  and  effective 
training  programmes  and 
anticorruption measures;  

implementation  of 

The  technical  equipment  for  border  control,  including  border  checks  and  surveillance  is  in 
place. In particular the equipment used by patrols meets modern law-enforcement standards. 
However,  in  view  of  the  situation  at  the  Eastern  borders,  which  requires  a  rapid  reaction  to 
threats, the current equipment is not satisfactory. The IT systems fulfil the user requirements. 
The  IT  systems  are  developed  based  on  the  need  to  collect,  store,  exchange  and  provide 
information for border management. The exchange of data between SBGS and other national 
law enforcement agencies is one of the gaps in inter-agency cooperation.  

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When considering the question of financial and human resources, the situation at the Eastern 
borders has a significant influence on priorities not only for this year but also for future years. 
Nevertheless, the Integrated Border Management Strategy and its Action Plan have now faced 
delays and many of the actions based on the Strategy have been cancelled.    

including 

in  SBGS  consist  of  a  six-level  system, 

Anti-corruption  measures 
the 
implementation of legislation, work with personnel, public affairs, internal security measures, 
financial control and international cooperation. Several concrete measures have taken place in 
the  implementation  of  anti-corruption  policy  in  SBGS.  In  2014,  537  persons  in  SBGS  have 
been  inspected  (not  necessarily  based  on  suspicion)  and  among  others  three  border  guards 
have been fired. Under financial control 16 investigations have been carried out in 2014.  
The  Code  of  Conduct  of  the  State  Border  Service  of  Ukraine  has  been  developed  and 
approved by the Government of Ukraine in order to strengthen anti-corruption measures and 
increase  responsibilities  among  the  officers.  Since  2011,  an  8-hour  programme  of  a 
specialised  short-term  course  for  training  personnel  of  public  authorities,  whose  functional 
responsibilities  include  performing  of  border  management,  has  been  implemented.  The 
programme covers issues of anti-corruption behaviour ethics. 

(cid:190)  Improvement  of  inter-agency  cooperation  (including  exchange  of  data  between 
the  Border  Guard  Service  and  law  enforcement  agencies)  and  international 
cooperation, including implementation of working arrangement with FRONTEX 
to a high level of effectiveness. 

The international cooperation in training is well established. Especially working arrangements 
with  FRONTEX  and  the  Mission  of  the  European  Union  Border  Assistance  to  Ukraine  and 
Moldova  (EUBAM),  as  well  as  training  of  experts  together  with  external  actors  are 
satisfactory.  The  active  cooperation  with  FRONTEX  has  continued  within  the  project 
"Eastern borders - Risk Analysis Network» (EB-RAN), including: regular monthly exchange 
of  statistical  information  between  the  countries  -  members  of  the  network  as  well  as 
preparation of the annual "Eastern borders - Risk Analysis" and other analytic documents and 
participation  of  SBGS  experts  in  the  development  of  FRONTEX  annual  risk  profiles  to 
identify victims of trafficking took place. According to the implementation of the Cooperation 
Plan with Frontex in 2013 - 2015 the representatives of Ukraine has so far participated in joint 
operations at land borders (Jupiter 2013, Focal Points Land 2013 and 2014 in (Hungary and 
Romania)  and  joint  operations  at  air  borders:  Flexi  Force  (Finland  and  Netherlands),  Focal 
Points  Air  2013  (Madrid,  Spain  and  Borispol  International  Airport),  Alexis  2014  (Warsaw 
2014), Focal Points Air  for  intermediate managers (Lisbon 2014) and Operational Heads of 
Airports  Conference  (2013,  2014)  as  well  as  joint  operations  at  sea  borders  (Hermes  and 
Minerva).  

 2.2.2.  Migration management 

(cid:190)  Continued effective implementation of the EU-Ukraine readmission agreement 
and measures for the reintegration of Ukrainian citizens (returning voluntarily 
or readmitted); 

As of September 2014, 17 bilateral agreements on readmission were concluded by Ukraine. 
The Readmission agreement with the EU entered into force on 1 January 2008). Negotiation 
6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
procedures  (draft  readmission  agreements)  are  in  place  with  Kazakhstan,  Armenia,  Belarus, 
Kyrgyzstan,  Tajikistan,  Azerbaijan,  Afghanistan  and  Pakistan.  On  13  January  2015,  the 
Implementing Protocol with Estonia was signed. A dialogue on readmission on for texts for 
implementing protocols with 11 EU countries (Benelux, Portugal, Cyprus, Poland, Slovakia, 
Hungary,  Romania,  Malta  and  Italy)  are  ongoing.  The  texts  of  the  Agreement  and  the 
Implementation Protocol with Switzerland and Serbia are under discussion. 

According  to  the  bilateral  agreement  between  Ukraine  and  Moldova  the  citizens  of 
contracting parties can travel without visa form one country to another. Passports issued by 
the Transnistria authorities are not recognised by Ukraine and therefore the regime from the 
agreement is not applicable to those persons.  

The  Action  Plan  (Resolution  No.  653)  includes  among  other  provisions  on  integration  of 
refugees also a few provisions on reintegration of Ukrainian citizens back to the country. The 
reintegration of Ukrainian nationals is not yet regulated by the law. Therefore the draft Law of 
Ukraine  “On  external  labour  migration”  was  elaborated  by  the  Ministry  of  Social  Policy  of 
Ukraine  in  December  2014  and  the  draft  is  currently  in  the  inter-agency  consultation 
procedure. The Law will include also the provisions on the reintegration issues for Ukrainians 
returned to the country and will define the main responsible authority for reintegration issues, 
Ministry  of  Social  Policy,  with  its  central  and  regional  services  responsible  for  the 
implementation of the reintegration measures.  

There were 91 announced returns (and positive replies) of nationals to Ukraine in 2014, with 
30 readmission carried out.  

(cid:190)  Effective  implementation  of  legal  framework  for  migration  management, 
including provision of administrative structures with adequate human resources 
with clear and relevant competences for all aspects of migration management, as 
well as effective cooperation between relevant agencies; 

According to the legislation, the migration tasks are divided between the relevant authorities 
and  ministries.  The  main  counterparts  are  Ministry  of  the  Interior  with  the  Police,  State 
Border Guard and State Migration Service, Ministry for Social Policy, Ministry for Education, 
Ministry for Justice and Ministry for foreign affairs. Concept of the state migration policy of 
Ukraine:  in  2011  the  Coordination  council  (commission)  was  established  where  all  relevant 
agencies  should  be  represented.  Coordination  council  should  be  the  main  national  body  for 
coordination and cooperation in the field of migration policy.  

The State Migration Service (SMS) is the main authority within the Ministry of the Interior 
responsible for migration and asylum issues in Ukraine. In accordance with the Regulation of 
the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 5 April 2014 No. 85 “Certain Issues of the Approval of 
the Maximum Number of Workers of the Central Apparatus and Territorial Bodies of Central 
Executive Bodies, Other Public Authorities,” the maximum number of the central apparatus 
of the SMS was reduced by 13 staff positions to 186 positions and that of territorial bodies by 
520 staff positions to 4613 positions.  

The Law "On the legal status of foreigners and stateless persons", which entered into force n 
25  December  2011  regulates  the  legal  entry  and  residence  in  the  country.  It  determines  the 
grounds to stay in the country within the scope of a temporary stay, temporary residence and 
permanent residence. Temporary stay is granted depending on the type of visa and depending 
7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
on  the  period  of  stay.  Application  should  be  lodged  with  the  State  Migration  Service. 
Temporary  residence  may  be  granted  for  the  reasons  of  study,  work  or  family  reunification 
reasons  and  is  issued  in  the  form  of  a  certificate.  The  procedures  of  issuing  the  permits  are 
conducted in the regional State Migration Service. Certificates are issued by the regional SMS 
and are valid for one year (and for students during the period of their studying).  

The procedures for temporary residence permit last on average 10 days, while the procedures 
for  granting  permanent  residence  permit  on  average  7  days.  The  certificate  is  issued  on  the 
basis of the permit for permanent residence and the procedure takes in average 3 months, in 
special and exceptional cases up to 1 year. The regional State Migration Service does not have 
any  special  database  and  the  cases  are  stored  in  paper  form,  only  the  documents  issued  to 
foreigners  beginning  from  February  2013  are  electronically  stored.  In  the  procedure  of 
granting  the  permanent  residence  permits  to  foreigner  and  stateless  persons,  the  office  does 
not have any access for verifying the data being held by other bodies on individual case, they 
communicate  in  written  form  with  the  Police,  State  Border  Guard  Service  and  Intelligence 
Agency and Interpol. 

In  2014  the  State  Migration  Service  issued:  18.000  permanent  residence  permits;  15.000 
temporary  residence  permits;  8.000  extensions  of  residence  permit  and  9.000  extensions  of 
temporary stays. 

Funding of the SMS can cover the ordinary tasks, but it is not possible to cover any additional 
costs,  maintenance,  equipment,  business  trips  abroad,  etc.  Due  to  the  lack  of  financial 
resources there have not been any foreign language trainings for officials. 

(cid:190)  Migration profile established and regularly updated and effective analysis of data 

on migration stocks and flows 

The Migration Profile for 2013 was published on 5 March 2015 on the official web-site of the 
SMS.  Updating  Ukraine’s  Migration  Profile  for  2014  is  ongoing  and  shall  be  completed  by 
the end of April 2015. The State Migration Service has not established the central migration 
database for monitoring the migration processes (MSMP). The estimation of the cost for the 
system  was  about  28  Mio  EUR.  Legislation  is  under  preparation  to  create  the  Contact 
Analytical  Center  in  order  to  strengthen  the inter-agency  cooperation  and  exchange  of  data. 
The  Centre  should  cover  not  only  aspects  of  irregular  migrations,  but  should  also  provide 
methods and networks to enhance the efficiency of the State Migration Service. 

(cid:190)  Consistent  implementation  of  an  effective  methodology  on  inland  detection  of 
irregular  migration,  risk  analysis  (including  the  reporting  of  relevant  agencies 
and analysis on each administrative level e.g. local, central), and investigation of 
cases of organised facilitated irregular migration, including effective cooperation 
between relevant agencies; 

Some concerns are raised about the operational capacity of the State Migration Service. The 
capacity of the State Migration Service to detect irregular migrants seems to be problematic 
due to the lack of staff and its purely civilian authority. The Ministry of the Interior and State 
Border  Guard  Service  have  the  operational  capacity,  while  SMS  only  verifies  operational 
information and checks the conditions and enforces the measures if necessary. However, the 
law  enforcement  agency  cannot  verify  the  documents  and  conditions  of  the  and  needs  to 
include the State Migration Service for the further procedure. The Ukrainian authorities try to 
8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
compensate  this  situation  with  efforts  oriented  to  the  organisation  of  ad-hoc  operative 
measures and nationwide actions of detecting the irregular migrants. 

(cid:190)  Provision  of  adequate 

(including  detention  centres)  and 
strengthening  of  responsible  bodies  to  ensure  effective  expulsion  of  illegally 
residing and/or transiting third country nationals from Ukrainian territory. 

infrastructure 

In 2014 a special Unit in charge for fighting irregular migration was created in the structure of 
the Department of Foreigners and Stateless Persons. In the regional departments of the State 
Migration  Service  specialised  units  for  migration  control  were  created  to  combat  irregular 
migration. 

In the field of irregular migration, the State Migration Service reported the following statistics 
for 2014:  

•  17031  persons  were  subject  to  administrative  procedure,  including  13.  851  foreign 
citizens.  The  fines  imposed  in  2014  for  violation  of  migration  legislation  amount  to 
7.1 mln UAH; 

•  3135 irregular migrants were detected and decisions on expulsion were taken against; 
•  2384 foreigners violated migration legislation; 
•  98 foreigners were returned; 
•  55 foreigners were placed in the centres for temporary stay of foreigners; 
•  512 foreigners were forbidden entry to Ukraine for 3 years. 

There  are  two  Temporary  Accommodation  Centres  for  irregular  migrants  located  in  the 
Chernihyv,  with  the  capacity  of  208  persons  and  Valin,  with  the  capacity  of  156  persons 
regions. Another centre in the Mykolaiv is under the construction, with the capacity for about 
100 persons. The Centres are equipped with furniture, IT, medical equipment and medicines, 
kitchen  equipment,  office  supplies, 
thus  ensuring  adequate 
accommodation  conditions  for  irregular  migrants.    Women  and  children  are  accommodated 
separately  from  men.  Also,  the  accommodation  for  families  is  assured.  Access  to  outside 
activities is assured.  

industrial  machines, 

Foreigners are accommodated in the centres on the base of Rulings on the forced expulsion 
issued  by  the  Court.  A  person  can  leave  the  centre  only  if  the  international  protection  is 
recognised or the time limit of 1 year has expired.  

The  personnel  in  the  centres  belong  to  the  State  Migration  Service  and  are  civil  servants. 
Guards  are  civilians,  without  weapons  and  have  no  additional  (use  of  force)  powers.  The 
responsibly  of  the  guards  cover  a  wide  spectrum  of  the  activities  in  the  centre,  such  as 
fulfilling the schedule, implementing the house rules, providing escorts, preventing conflicts, 
contacts with the accommodated persons, etc. In case of emergency or massive conflicts the 
local police forces are called.  

2.2.3.  Asylum policy 

(cid:190)  Effective  implementation  of  asylum  legislation,  including  provision  of  adequate 
infrastructure  (including  reception  centres)  and  strengthening  of  responsible 
bodies,  in  particular  in  the  area  of  asylum  procedures,  reception  of  asylum 
seekers and protection of their rights (including documentation of asylum seekers 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
and  refugees  in  order  to  ensure  effective  access  to  their  rights),  as  well  as 
integration of refugees. 

According to the Law of Ukraine “On the Free Legal Aid” persons applying for recognition as 
refugee  or  as  person  in  need  of  subsidiary  protection  are  entitled  for  free  primary  legal 
assistance,  i.e.  provision  of  legal  information,  consultations  on  legal  aspects  of  submitting 
applications,  requests,  claims  and  other  legal  documents.  Article  13  of  the  Law  of  Ukraine 
“On  legal  aid”  provides  for  the  right  of  citizens  to  receive  free  secondary  legal  aid  which 
includes such legal services as a defence against charges; representation of interests in courts, 
other state bodies, local government bodies, before other persons; drawing up of documents of 
procedural  nature,  however  the  implementation  of  the  provision  of  free  secondary  legal 
assistance, which includes representation in administrative and judicial proceedings and was 
envisaged for 1 January 2015, has been postponed to 1 January 2017. 

Two  centres  for  temporary  accommodation  of  refugees  function  in  Ukraine,  one  in  Odessa, 
with  a  capacity  of  200  persons,  and  the  other  one  in  the  Transcarpathian  Region,  with  a 
capacity  of  130  persons,  which  accommodate  the  most  vulnerable  asylum  seekers  and 
refugees  (families  with  many  children,  single  mothers,  etc.).  In  2013  with  a  view  of 
improving  accommodation  conditions  and  with the  support  of  the  Regional  UNHCR  Office 
for  Belarus,  Moldova  and  Ukraine  and  EU  financial  assistance  both  sets  of  premises  have 
undergone renovation. The centre in Odessa has been partially renovated and the first part of 
the  renovation  was  completed  in  2013.  The  renovated  parts  provide  adequate  living 
conditions,  the  dormitories  are  provided  with  new  furniture,  and  the  sanitary  facilities  are 
renovated.  Currently  non-governmental  organisations  provide  sanitary  items  and  school 
stationery for those accommodated at temporary accommodation centres. The persons seeking 
international protection who are not accommodated at the temporary reception centres do not 
receive social assistance and their residence registration seems to be problematic.  Moreover, 
according to testimonies, the persons seeking international protection who attempt to cross the 
Western borders of Ukraine illegally, lose their access to reception conditions. This needs to 
be  clarified  by  the  Ukrainian  authorities.  According  to  the  Ukrainian  authorities,  the 
renovation of the centre in Yagotyn (Kyiv Region) with a foreseen capacity of 353 persons, 
including unaccompanied minors will be completed in 2015. 

A  Cabinet  of  Ministers  Decree  in  March  2014  (No.  121)  envisaged  free  medical  care  for 
persons  seeking  international  protection  in  Ukraine.  In  practice,  emergency  healthcare  is 
provided, however free access to healthcare outside the scope of primary healthcare seems to 
be  problematic  (also  due  to  lack  of  interpreters).  Often  UNHCR  and  NGOs  provide  the 
necessary  funds.  Medical  staff  in  the  temporary  accommodation  centre  in  Odessa  is  only 
available at working hours and on call duty in the weekends. According to the explanations 
plans are to recruit two additional doctors and a nurse. 

The  State  Migration  Service  does  not  produce  reports  on  the  country  of  origin  information 
(COI) and there is no specific unit or officials specialised in collecting and providing COI to 
case  workers.  Officials  processing  applications  have  access  to  publicly  available  sources 
(UNHCR  Refworld,  US  State  Department  reports,  Amnesty  International,  Human  Rights 
Watch, etc.).  

Though a system has been established to enable the issuance of identity and travel documents 
at the central level, the “Refugees” subsystem providing access in every branch of the SMS 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
has  not  been  established  yet.  According  to  the  statements,  SMS  established  the  special 
software, but its actual implementation is subject to funding.   

Asylum applications are received by the regional offices of the State Migration Service. The 
regional office decides on the evaluation of the documents necessary to recognise a person as 
a  refugee  or  a  beneficiary  of  supplementary/complementary/subsidiary  protection  within  15 
days.  In  the  course  of  the  asylum  procedure,  the  documents  are  analysed,  interviews  are 
conducted,  and  examination  of  information  (on  the  country  of  origin,  from  the  security 
authority,  etc.)  is  performed,  within  a  deadline  of  60  days  (which  can  be  extended  by  1 
month).  The  regional  office  makes  the  recommended  conclusion  on  the  application  and 
submits  it  to  the  central  office  of  the  State  Migration  Service  (which  has  30  days  –  with  a 
possible  extension  by  60  days  –  to  deliver  the  final  decision  as  for  the  application).  The 
procedure from the application by an asylum seeker to the final decision of the SMS requires 
seven signatures from the officials of the State Migration Service. The decision is taken by the 
first deputy head of the State Migration Service. 

The decisions contain a concise reference to the legislation applied but do not provide detailed 
information  on  remedies  (the  concrete  deadline  of  submitting  the  application  for  judicial 
review, moreover the specific court competent to review the  administrative  decision are not 
indicated).  Remedy  against  the  decision  could  be  filed  with  the  State  Migration  Service  or 
directly with the Administrative court. Both institutions are obliged to consider the application 
for  review.  Against  the  decision  of  the  administrative  court,  appeals  can  be  lodged  to  the 
Appellate  court  and  to  Supreme  administrative  court.  The  person  seeking  international 
protection  may  stay  in  the  territory  of  the  Ukraine  until  the  final  decision,  though  the  short 
validity of the residence document may result in “gaps” between expiry and the renewal of the 
residence authorisation. 

Persons  seeking  international  protection  are  exempted  from  labour  market  tests.  The  work 
permits are to be issued in 15 days. Persons seeking international protection may be employed 
on  the  premises  of  the  temporary  accommodation  centres.  In  the  framework  of  a  project,  a 
bakery  is  operating  in  the  temporary  accommodation  centre  in  the  Transcarpathian  region 
employing persons seeking international protection. Despite the above-mentioned provisions, 
the number of asylum-seekers employed with an employment permit is low (20 applicants for 
international  protection  received  services  from  employment  offices  in  2014).  Moreover,  the 
validity  of  work  permits  is  aligned  to  the  residence  document  issued  to  persons  seeking 
international protection (the residence document is valid for 2 months which can be extended) 
which is too short to provide access to actual employment in practice.  

A  positive  development  concerning  vulnerable  asylum-seekers  is  the  adoption  of  a  Joint 
Order of the Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of 
Social Policy on age assessment procedures. According to the statements, the age assessment 
procedure  should  involve  medical  and  psychological  assessment.  The  training  to  implement 
psychological assessment is ongoing. 

In practice, the lack of knowledge of foreign languages by State Migration Service officials, 
social  workers  and  the  lack  of  interpreters  seems  to  be  a  problem  that  hinders  asylum 
procedures  and  the  access  of  persons  seeking  international  protection  to  the  rights  they  are 
entitled under legislation. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In  2012  the  territorial  bodies  of  the  State  Migration  Service  of  Ukraine  examined  1573 
applications of foreigners and stateless persons for the status of refugee or person in need of 
subsidiary protection. In 2012, 152 persons were granted international protection in Ukraine: 
63  persons  were  recognised  as  refugees  and  89  persons  as  persons  in  need  of  subsidiary 
protection. The majority of applicants originated from Afghanistan, Somali and Syria. In 2013 
applications  of  1093  persons  were  examined  by  the  SMS  out  of  which  95  were  granted  the 
status  of  refugee  and  141  were  recognised  as  persons  in  need  of  subsidiary  protection.  The 
majority  of  them  originate  from  Afghanistan  and  Syria.  110  persons  submitted  their 
applications for the status of refugee or person in need of subsidiary protection to officers of 
the  State  Border  Guard  Service  of  Ukraine,  out  of  which  106  asylum  seekers  submitted 
applications  in  person  and  4  applications  were  received  from  legal  representatives  of 
unaccompanied minors.  17 minors were included into the procedure for the status of refugee 
or  person  in  need  of  subsidiary  protection  initiated  by  their  parents.  Out  of  all  applications 
processed by the SBGS 9 (8%) were for the status of person in need of subsidiary protection. 
30 persons submitted their applications to the SBGS when crossing the State border illegally. 
The  other  80  persons  introduced  the  relevant  applications  while  staying  at  centres  for 
temporary accommodation of foreigners.  

In  2014  applications  of  1.173  persons  were  processed  by  the  SMS  out  of  which  105  were 
granted  the  status  of  refugee  and  222  were  recognised  as  persons  in  need  of  subsidiary 
protection. The majority of applicants originated from Afghanistan (275) and Syria (267). 

A  positive  development  in  the  field  of  asylum  procedures  is  that  the  rate  of  recognition  of 
applications of international protection has increased to 35% (compared to 25% in 2013), in 
particular,  85%  of  Syrian  applicants  were  granted  protection  in  Ukraine.  Most  refugees  are 
from Afghanistan, while the majority of beneficiaries of subsidiary protection are Syrians. 

2.3. Block 3: Public Order and Security  

2.3.1.  Preventing and fighting organised crime, terrorism and corruption 

(cid:190)  Implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan to fight against organised crime 

including effective coordination between the relevant authorities; 

The  need  for  a  systemic  reform  of  the  internal  affairs  bodies  took  concrete  forms  with  the 
reorganisation  of  the  units  responsible  for  organised  crime.  The  Action  Plan  for 
implementation  of  the  state  policy  in  the  fight  against  organised  crime  was  adopted  by  the 
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Decree #53 as of January 25, 2012). It will expire by the end 
of  2017.  According  to  Article  5.2  of  the  Law  of  Ukraine  "On  the  organisational  and  legal 
framework to combat organised crime "the public bodies, created to combat organised crime 
include:  special  units  for  combating  organised  crime  of  the  Ministry  of  Internal  Affairs  of 
Ukraine and special units to  combat corruption and  organised crime  of  the Security Service 
(SBU)  of  Ukraine.    In  accordance  with  Article  5.3  of  the  Law,  other  public  bodies, 
responsible for fighting organised crime  include: the Prosecutor’s Offices; the bodies of  the 
State Fiscal Service, the State Border Guard Service and agencies of State Financial Control; 
the  penitentiary  Institutions;  the  Intelligence  Agency  of  the  Ministry  of  Defence  and  the 
Foreign Intelligence Service. 

Before  the  reform  process  started  in  February  2015,  GUBOZ  was  the  main  department  for 
combating  organised  crime  and  was  responsible  for  implementing  the  Action  Plan.  On  2 
12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
February 2015 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to 
Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the reform of the Interior bodies" (Draft Law №1550 
of 22.12.2014). The above mentioned Act amends, in particular, the Law of Ukraine "On the 
organisational and legal framework to combat organised crime" and the Law of Ukraine "On 
Operational  Activities"  and  abolishes  GUBOZ  as  a  special  unit  to  combat  organised  crime. 
The  employees  of  GUBOZ  will  be  re-employed  into  specialised  departments  of  the  MoI, 
which  will  retain  their  investigative  functions  to  tackle  organised  crime  in  accordance  with 
their  respective  specialisations  (e.g.  drugs,  THB,  cybercrime,  etc.)  and  in  accordance  with 
paragraph 1 of the article 261 of the CPC.  

In the framework of reforms, the Security Service (SBU) will retain the operational and pre-
trial investigative responsibility to fight also organised crime. 

A draft law "On the State Bureau of Investigation"(SBI) is under preparation, which foresees 
the  establishment  of  a  new  body.  According  to  the  Criminal  Procedure  Code  (CPC),  article 
216.4: “Investigators from units of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) of Ukraine shall 
engage  in  pre-trial  investigation  of  the  crimes  committed  by  officials  holding  a  particularly 
responsible status pursuant to Part One of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On civil service” 
and  the  persons  whose  positions  refer  to  categories  1-3,  judges  and  law  enforcement 
personnel.  The State Bureau of Investigation shall be established within 5 years after the CPC 
has entered into force, i.e. by 20 November 2017.  

The “Law on the Protection of Individuals Involved in Criminal Proceedings of 1994”, which 
was  amended  in  2003  entails  provisions  on  witness  protection.  However,  the  law  does  not 
clearly  address  important  issues  related  to  the  “Justice  Collaborators”  protection’s  program. 
According to the Ukrainian witness protection law  protective measures can be granted via a 
number  of  measures,  including  surveillance,  replacement  of  ID  documents,  change  of 
appearance;  relocation,  etc.  Special  investigative  measures  can  be  implemented  upon  the 
authorisation of the  investigating judge as per the provisions stipulated in the article 206 of 
the  CPC.  In  practice,  further  efforts  should  be  undertaken  in  order  to  ensure  the  effective 
implementation of a specialised Witness Protection Unit according to international standards. 
According to article 7 of the Law of Ukraine "On militia" there is a judicial police within the 
MoI. It was created for maintaining order in court, stop the disrespect to the court, protection 
of court premises and authorities of the court system, perform functions on state protection of 
judges, court staff and trial participants. In 2015, special units of the judicial police performed 
130 resolutions on ensuring safety measures concerning participants in criminal proceedings, 
which ensured the protection of 195 persons. 

Overall, while the reform process of the Ministry of Interior is ongoing, key elements such as 
a clear jurisdiction and avoidance of overlapping functions in fighting organised crime should 
be  ensured.  The  modernisation  efforts  are  a  welcome  step  to  avoid  duplication  of  effort, 
recover  financial  resources,  reduce  corruption  opportunities  and  improve  motivation  of 
concerned staff.  The challenge of the overall reform of the internal affairs bodies is to ensure 
a clear and coherent vision of the reform. 

(cid:190)  Implementation  of  the  State  Programme  for  Combating  Trafficking  in  human 
beings,  including  effective  coordination  between  state  agencies  and  effective 
protection of victims of trafficking including children; 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  Government  has  worked  with  key  stakeholders  in  the  implementation  of  the  National 
Action  plan.  The  National  Action  Plan  2013-2015  provides  a  comprehensive  approach  to 
prevent and combat THB, with relevant goals and objectives. The Ministry for Social Policy 
has submitted the draft action plan (2016 – 2020) to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.  The 
State Programme on Combating the Trafficking in Human Beings will be implemented, and 
commence in 2016, after its adoption. 

The  State  Program  against  Trafficking  in  Human  Beings  was  adopted  by  the  Cabinet  of 
Ministers Decree of 21 March 2012. It concludes in 2015. The Ministry for Social Policy has 
submitted the draft action plan (2016- 2020) to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The State 
Programme  will  be  implemented,  and  commence  in  2016,  after  its  adoption.  The  bodies 
responsible  for  the  implementation  of  the  2013-2015  programme  include  the  Ministries  of 
Social Policy, Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Education and Science, Youth and sport, 
Culture,  Justice,  State  Statistics  Service,  State  Committee  for  Television  and  Radio 
Broadcasting, Economic Development and Trade, Infrastructure, General Prosecutors Office, 
State Border Guards Administration;  the State Security Service,  the National Agency for the 
State  Service,  NGOs  and  International  Organisations.  The  international  organisations  and 
NGOs have expressed the need for greater coordination.  Concern was expressed that many of 
the regions did not have targeted programmes, with specific budgets allocated.   

The  Ministry  of  Social  Policy  has  the  responsibility  for  overall  coordination  of  Combating 
Trafficking in Human Beings, through a dedicated Coordinator and Unit. Specialised police 
units to combat human trafficking have also been established throughout the country. 

There has been considerable activity in the area of prevention.  A number of campaigns have 
been  conducted  to  alert  the  public  to  the  dangers  of  human  trafficking.    Considerable  work 
has  also  been  done,  training  and  attempting  to  build  the  capacity  of  specialists  and  experts. 
Again it would be useful to evaluate the impact of this training on identification and provision 
of assistance. 

Training  has  been  conducted  with  social  workers,  law  enforcement  agencies,  and  consular 
officials and media professionals, to consider best practices of THB  (over 250 specialists and 
over 6000 experts at the regional level and 3464 public servants nationally).   

The Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine in cooperation with the International Organisation 
for Migration in Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Ministry 
of  Regional  Development,  Construction  and  Housing  and  Communal  Services  of  Ukraine 
organised  the  regional  information  campaign  “Your  Safe  Way  to  the  Dream”  in  the 
framework of the project “Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings through Social Work 
and Community Mobilisation.” It took place on July - August 2014 in Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-
Frankivsk and Dnipropetrovsk Region in order to increase the public awareness of the risks of 
falling  into  a  situation  of  trafficking  in  human  beings  and  to  prevent  the  various  forms  of 
trafficking  in  human  beings.  This  campaign  was  aimed  at  young  people,  women  and  men 
aged 16-35 years, unemployed persons and potential migrants which have searched a better 
life or work abroad and who often become the victims of trafficking in human beings.  

IOM’s reported an increase in local identification due to capacity building and training, at the 
local level (i.e. in Mykolayiv 75% of VoT identified by the NGO applied for official status; in 
Odessa – 46%; in Zakarpattia – 93%, in 2013).  However, the level of identification remains 
very low, so the programme could benefit from systematic evaluation to consider impact, and 
14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
specifically  what  is  making  a  difference.  This  could  inform  future  delivery  and  increase 
impact. 

In the implementation phase, a mechanism of assistance to victims of trafficking was piloted 
in cooperation with OSCE in Donetsk and Chernivtsi in 2012.  The pilot took place in 2009-
2011.  Following  that,  IOM  and  OSCE  have  been  working  to  build  capacity  based  on  the 
availability of resources (13 regions are covered by OSCE, and 10 by IOM). Of the total of 25 
regions  in  Ukraine,  two  are  regions  not  covered  by  National  Referral  Mechanism  (NRM) 
capacity building interventions, Poltava and Cherkasy. 

Since the adoption of the NRM-related regulations in 2012, 159 applications for VoT status 
(48  in  2014)  were  submitted  by  local  state  administrations  to  the  Ministry  of  Social  Policy. 
All  of  these  applications  were  reviewed  by  the  MSP,  which  resulted  in  84  granted  VoT 
statuses  (27  in  2014)  and  75  rejections  (21  in  2014),  which  constitutes  47%  of  the  total 
number of applications (43% in 2014). Since 2010, there has been a significant decrease in the 
number of Ukrainian victims of trafficking identified.  The Government reported 84 trafficked 
victims in 2014, compared to 187 in 2012, (294 in 2011 and 277 in 2010).   In 2014, a total of 
38  victims  were  men,  32  were  women  and  14  children.  In  2014,  41  cases  involved 
exploitation for force labour, 18 for sexual exploitation, 16 for begging, six cases for mixed 
exploitation, three cases for the removal of organs and two cases involving the sale of a child. 
The  countries  of  destination  identified  by  the  authorities  included  33  cases  to  the  Russian 
Federation, 32 cases to Turkey, six cases to Poland, five cases to Moldova and two cases to 
Azerbaijan,  two  cases  to  Israel,  one  case  to  Serbia,  one  case  to  Greece  and  one  case  to 
Germany. 

Despite considerable progress in counter trafficking activities, there are a number of concerns 
regarding the process that should be considered.  The decrease in, and number of, registered 
victims  is  a  concern.  There  is  a  need  for  the  Government  to  increase  its  efforts  in  the 
identification of victims of trafficking. The current anti-trafficking system focuses on Ukraine 
as a country of origin. Only a few foreign victims of trafficking have been formally identified.  
In addition only a few victims of internal trafficking have been identified, despite the potential 
risk with the high level of displaced persons.  The number of child victims identified is also 
very low.  Additionally, there is a concern that the numbers of identified victims for sexual 
exploitation has decreased over the past five years, and the reasons for this would need to be 
explored further. 

(cid:190)  Implementation of legislation on preventing and fighting corruption, ensuring the 
efficient  functioning  of  the  independent  anti-corruption  agency;  development  of 
ethical codes and training on anti-corruption, especially targeting public officials 
involved in law enforcement and the judiciary; 

In  October  2014  an  anti-corruption  package,  including  a  national  strategy  (2014-2017)  was 
adopted. This package set the foundations for two new specialised anti-corruption institutions: 
one tasked with investigation of high-level corruption (the National Anti-Corruption Bureau) 
and  one  on  prevention  (the  National  Agency  for  Prevention  of  Corruption).  The  new 
legislation  also  set  the  basis  for  an  enhanced  asset  disclosure  and  conflict-of-interest 
verification  system.  Amendments  to  the  law  on  the  National  Anti-Corruption  Bureau  were 
adopted  by  Parliament  in  February  2015  to  address  certain  shortcomings,  including 
safeguards  for  staff  salaries  and  a  framework  for  a  specialised  anti-corruption  prosecution 
office  accompanied  by  a  number  of  independence  safeguards,  including  selection  of 
15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
leadership and recruitment of staff through merit-based competitions. A state programme to 
operationalise  the  anti-corruption  strategy  was  adopted  by  the  government  in  early  April 
2015.  The  programme  would  benefit  from  a  more  operational  approach  that  should  also 
ensure  clear  prioritisation,  budgetary  assessment  and  indication  of  further  needs.  Both  the 
strategy and the action plan have been drafted in cooperation with civil society. Indeed, civil 
society appears to play a decisive role in the reform processes, as one of its key drivers, with 
an active involvement in numerous anti-corruption relevant areas. 

Budget for 2015 was allocated for both the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the National 
Agency  for  Prevention  of  Corruption.  The  recruitment  process  for  the  leadership  of  the 
Bureau,  carried  out  through  an  open  competition  managed  by  an  independent  selection 
commission, was finalised in mid-April 2015 and the director of the Bureau appointed.  

The law on access to information was adopted in 2011 in Ukraine, but practice is still modest. 
In order to avoid making access to information dependent on the good will of various entities, 
Ukraine has opted for pro-active publication of information in several key areas with financial 
implications. A new law was adopted on transparency in using public funds. The law provides 
for online publication of Treasury transactions of public institutions in an open-data format. 
Some progress was made in reducing exemptions in public procurement through 2014 legal 
amendments. A unified web portal disclosing public expenditure, as highlighted in the anti-
corruption state programme, should also be set up as a matter of priority. 

There is a new framework in place regarding registries/databases on immovable property and 
land,  as  well  as  legislation  requiring  the  central  register  of  companies  to  include  data  on 
beneficial  ownership.  Initially  the  companies  will  be  required  to  voluntarily  provide  such 
information by the end of May 2015, while later on, if information provided is proven wrong 
or  incomplete,  sanctions  may  be  imposed  (approximately  200  euro  fine).  No  secondary 
legislation  was  adopted  to  facilitate  the  completion  of  the  beneficial  owner  data.  A  legal 
obligation was introduced for public officials to disclose beneficial ownership information in 
their  asset  declarations.  It  would  be  recommendable  to  ensure  that  the  data  on  beneficial 
ownership  is  reliable,  user-friendly,  easily  accessible  and  up-to-date,  including  a  proper 
enforcement mechanism to verify accuracy of information and sanction non-compliance.  

In  spite  of  the  political  commitments  at  high  level  which  led  to  a  commendable  legislative 
framework and an engagement for an institutional remake, the anti-corruption reform process 
appears to be still stuck in the transition from planning to acting. There is little prioritisation 
and coherence in the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy; the lack of an effective 
coordination  leads  to  a  rather  fragmentary  approach  for  what  is  already  an  overwhelming 
implementation process. There is limited acknowledgment and/or understanding of the overall 
reform vision within the various bureaucratic levels of the public institutions tasked with anti-
corruption  policies.  Ukraine  may  consider  putting  into  motion  an  effective  high-level 
coordination  mechanism,  to  also  include  civil  society  and  to  ensure  clear  leadership  in  the 
implementation of the anti-corruption strategy, as well as setting clear feasible priorities to be 
widely understood and accepted by all relevant institutions involved in the implementation.  

Tangible results in the implementation of anti-corruption reforms are therefore yet to follow. 
With  regard  to  the  upcoming  new  institutional  setting,  the  real  test  of  its  effectiveness  will 
only  come  when  the  National  Anti-Corruption  Bureau,  the  specialised  anti-corruption 
prosecution office and the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption become operational, 
with all independence safeguards proven by practice.  

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In relation to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, it is key to ensure a timely, merit-based, 
competitive,  transparent  and  independent  recruitment  process  of  its  staff.  The  same  is  valid 
for  the  setting  up,  including  recruitment  of  leadership,  of  the  specialised  anti-corruption 
prosecution  office  which  should  be  pursued  as  a  matter  of  top  priority,  as  an  indispensable 
element  of  a  performant  and  independent  institutional  setting  for  combating  high-level 
corruption.  It  also  key  to  further  ensure  the  necessary  resources  and  equipment  for  these 
institutions  and  put  in  place  without  delay  detailed  intensive  training  programme  for  their 
staff.  Clear  operational  guidelines  are  also  needed  for  the  cooperation  between  these  two 
institutions, as well as for their cooperation and division of competences with other relevant 
agencies (e.g. police, SBU, upcoming State Investigative Bureau). Currently such division of 
competences  appears  not to be sufficiently clear. Additional consideration should  be also to 
further safeguards related to the procedure for dismissal of the director of the National Anti-
Corruption Bureau in relation to which a number of concerns remain.  

The reforms of the judiciary and of the prosecution services have a two-fold key importance 
for anti-corruption policies: (i) prevention and combating corruption within the judiciary and 
the  prosecution  service;  (ii)  capacity  of  the  prosecution  and  of  the  judiciary  to  effectively 
prosecute and adjudicate corruption cases, including at high-level. Ambitious plans for these 
reforms  have  been  envisaged.  The  'cleaning-up'  practices  have  been  in  the  centre  of  public 
controversy  and  at  times  criticised,  including  by  the  Venice  Commission,  for  lack  of  clear 
objective criteria, transparency and sufficient safeguards. While the declared objectives of the 
'cleaning  up'  reforms  are  commendable,  more  thought  must  be  put  into  the  way  these  are 
going  to  be  implemented  and  the  risks  attached  that  need  to  be  addressed  in  order  to  avoid 
failure  or  aggravating  effects.  All  these  reform  processes  must  be  implemented  in  full 
transparency and follow clear, objective, merit-based and publicly available criteria. 

The entry into force of key provisions of the new law on public prosecution, foreseen for 25 
April  2015  was  delayed  until  15  July  2014.  The  law  eliminates  the  general  supervision 
functions, introduces new modern rules on human resources management and provides for the 
creation of self-governing bodies.  

In  relation  to  investigations  into  high-level  corruption  cases,  as  well  as  prosecution  and 
adjudication thereof, it is widely acknowledged that the public expectations in this regard are 
very high. It is of utmost importance to ensure a high quality of non-partisan investigations, 
followed by a fair judicial process, with full observance of the defendants' rights.  

With regard to asset recovery, a deputy Prosecutor General was put in charge of leading inter-
agency  work  on  asset  recovery  reform.  While  various  pieces  of  legislation  were  adopted  in 
this area, little court practice exists so far to allow for a proper evaluation of their efficiency. 
Ukraine  should  designate  a  national  Asset  Recovery  Office,  and  put  in  place  an  effective 
coordination framework of asset recovery reforms and an effective inter-agency cooperation 
to be able to establish a track-record of effective asset recovery. 

In  relation  to  prevention  of  corruption,  a  number  of  bylaws  necessary  for  the  kick-off  the 
setting up of the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption were adopted in March 2015. 
The Agency will be in charge of the design and implementation of anti-corruption programs, 
as well as  the control  of assets  declarations and conflict of interest for public officials. It is 
therefore  of  key  importance  to  ensure  a  smooth  selection  and  appointment  process  of  the 
members of the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption, their supporting staff and the 
17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Public  Council  oversight,  with  observance  of  functional  independence  safeguards  and 
effective training programmes. 

Accessing assets disclosure declarations of public officials and civil servants has always been 
a great challenge for civil society and media. The obligation to publish these statements online 
for the most senior official is very rarely implemented and access to information depends on 
the good will of the head of the respective institutions. Ukraine intends to develop a process 
of online submission of declarations of assets by public officials. It is recommended that the 
existing declarations of assets of public officials are published online as soon as possible. As a 
second  step,  the  electronic  asset  declarations  system  is  expected  to  be  put  in  place.  The 
verification  mechanisms  must  enjoy  effective  independence  safeguards  and  a  system  of 
deterrent sanctions should be put in place for unjustified wealth and conflicts of interests. 

Ukraine has embarked on a reform process of state-owned/controlled companies and is also 
facing  a  number  of  actions  that  challenge  prior  privatisations  which  may  lead  to  re-
nationalisation and re-privatisation processes in strategic sectors such as energy. These areas 
are exposed to high corruption risks where effective oversights and anti-corruption safeguards 
will  be  key  to  ensuring  that  these  processes  are  corruption-free,  objective,  fair  and  best 
serving the public interest.  

In  the  area  of  political  party  and  electoral  campaign  funding,  legislation  addressing  the 
GRECO recommendations remains to be adopted.  

The  issue  of  immunities  remained  unchanged  in  Ukraine  since  the  last  VLAP  report.  It  is 
recommendable for the procedures for lifting the immunity of judges to be reviewed to ensure 
the  limits  of  a  functional  immunity  and  leave  the  decision  to  a  professional  body,  ideally 
composed solely of judges, following clear objective procedures. It is also recommendable to 
complete the constitutional amendment procedures with regard to immunity of MPs. 

(cid:190)  Implementation  of  the  Strategy  and  Action  Plan  for  the  prevention  of  money-
laundering  and  financing  of  terrorism,  implementation  of  the  law  on  the 
prevention  of  financing  of  terrorism,  implementation  of  relevant  legislation  on 
confiscation  of  assets  of  criminals  (including  the  provisions  addressing  cross-
border aspects); 

On  14  October  2014,  the  Ukrainian  Parliament  adopted  the  Law  “On  prevention  and 
counteraction  to  legalisation  (money  laundering)  of  the  proceeds  from  crime  or  terrorism 
financing, as well as financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction” (AML), 
which came into effect on 7 February 2015. The new AML Act provides: 

• 

•  a clear definition on money laundering and financing of terrorism, assets, money, and 
non-property  rights  property,  client  identification,  financing  of  proliferation  and  a 
large definition of  Politically Exposed Person (PEP’s). 
introduces  a  larger  list  of  Designated  Non-Financial  Businesses  and  Profession 
reporting to the FIU (members of  payment systems; stock market;  real estate  sector; 
precious stones and precious metals business; lotteries, gambling games and (virtual) 
casinos; notaries, lawyers and companies providing legal services; auditors and audit 
companies; etc.) 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Liability of legal persons is regulated in the AML Act 2, 1 and 24, 2 and translated in 

• 

other laws such as Criminal Code Ukraine Art. 209, Art. 285.5.  
Introduces  a  risk  assessment  approach  Art  1,1-44    and  the  measures  which  primary 
financial  monitoring  entities  take  to  create  and  ensure  the  functioning  of  the  risk 
management  system,  which  provides,  among  other  things,  determining  (detecting), 
assessing (measuring), monitoring, and controlling risks to mitigate them; 

•  Fiscal  fraud  is  seen  as  a  possible  predicate  offence  for  money  laundering,  however 
according  to  the  authorities,  fiscal  information  is  only  available  since  1999,  hence 
older  fiscal  fraud  cannot  be  prosecuted  because  it  can  be  explained  as  ‘old  saving 
money from the family'. 

•  Ultimate Beneficial Owner identification (UBO) obligation is introduced in the AML 
Act  Ukraine  2014    with  the  Art  1,  10°  &  21°  and  the  complete  identification  is 
expected  from  any  individual  who  may  exercise  (directly  or  through  other  persons) 
influence on management or economic activity of a legal entity.  

•  A larger and clear definition of PEP’s (AML Act, Art 1, 14, 20, Art 6, 5-2) has been 

introduced and it is needed and is needed to tackle possible corruption.  

While the AML Act brings Ukraine a major step closer to be compliant with the (new 2012) 
Financial  Action  Task  Force  on  money  laundering  (FATF)  recommendations  and  even  also 
with the 4th EU directive on money laundering that focuses on ultimate beneficial ownership, 
there are several shortcoming that should be taken into account. According to the Independent 
Association  of  the  Banks  of  Ukraine,  30  %  of  the  Ukrainian  banks  did  not  disclose  their 
ownership to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). A deadline was given until June 2015. As 
mainly banks and financial institutions do report to the FIU, the use of cash to move proceeds 
of crime is a risk in a country where some people do not trust the banks and there is a black 
exchange  market.  Hence  US  dollars  and  EURO  are  circulating  in  big  amounts.  Further, 
despite the new AML act cash is still used in big amounts in the real estate sector. 

The  FIU  did  receive  in  2014  more  than  1  million  transactions  reports. This high  number of 
reports is in relation to the reporting system. Transactions equal to or more than 150.000 UAH 
must be reported to the FIU under the conditions described in the AML Act Ukraine 2014.  

More  than  95  %  of  the  reports  (or  1.251.311)  are  coming  from  banks;  there  are  no  reports 
from  auditors  and  audit  companies;  there  are  no  reports  from  lawyers  and  companies 
providing  legal  services;  there  are  no  reports  from  cash  payments  of  goods;  there  are  no 
reports from casino’s/gambling industry (except lotteries); there were 29 reports coming from 
notaries.  

The  reporting  entities  are  taking  initiatives  in  this  regard.  In  2014  the  Ministry  of  Justice 
performed 1.485 inspections that resulted in discovering 825 subjects of violations on AML 
legislation. The suspicious transaction reports did result in 2014 in more than 200.000 reports 
and  1.940  cases  of  which  476  were  submitted  to  law  enforcement  agencies:  Ministry  of 
Interior (Police) 180 cases, 1 on financing of terrorism; Security  Services: 106 cases, 11 on 
financing of terrorism; State Fiscal Administration, 102 cases; Prosecutor-General Office,  88 
cases.  The  Financial  Intelligence  Unit  (FIU)  received  information/STR’s  regarding:  8,9 
million UAH in 2012; 10,38,9 million UAH in 2014; and in 2014: 1018,3 million.  In 2014, 
27.400.000  UAH  has  been  confiscated.  The  confiscated  money  (and  sentenced  as  money 
laundering before court) seems low if compared at the initially 3.042, 82 million UAH frozen 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
in  2014  by  FIU:  LEA:  2493,83  million  UAH;  State  Fiscal  Service:  36.48  million  UAH, 
Ministry Interior Affairs: 453.02 million UAH; Security Services: 59,49 million UAH. 

The  Criminal  Code  does  not  seem  to  provide  a  strong  legal  instrument  to  tackle  money 
laundering  and  encourage  a  higher  confiscation  rate  since  a  predicate  offense  must  still  be 
proven. In the ongoing reform of the Ministry of Interior it is recommended that a specialised 
financial  prosecutors  unit  tasked  only  with  anti-  money  laundering  and  terrorism  financing 
investigations should be set up. 

In 2014 the FIU of Ukraine had 458 outgoing requests and 251 incoming request (based on 
Memorandum of Understanding signed with over 130 FIU’s). 

(cid:190)  Implementation  of  the  national  anti-drug  strategy  and  action  plan,  ensuring 
adequate working of the Inter-Agency Coordination Council on Combating Drug 
Abuse,  making the information on drug seizures and persons involved accessible 
at  border  crossing  points,  and  further  developing  cooperation  and  information 
exchange  with  relevant  international  bodies  in  the  drug  field;  establishing 
cooperation with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction 
(EMCDDA); 

The National Anti-Drug Strategy adopted in 2013, has been partially implemented through the 
Action Plan (2012-2015) and it is being further implemented through the second Action Plan 
(2015-2020). Following a resolution of the Government the AP for the 2015 to implement the 
strategy until 2020 was approved. The MoH has set up a separate legal entity and fulfilled the 
commitment  to  decriminalise  possession  of  small/medium  doses.  On  18  March  2015  a 
Resolution  containing  provisions  defining  population  access  to  medicine  containing  drugs 
(oncological) has been endorsed so as to reduce corruption opportunities. 

Tangible results have been achieved, such as the establishment of the Monitoring Centre and 
the establishment of the Medical Centre for re-socialisation of drug/alcohol addicts. 

By  the  Decree  of  the  Cabinet  of  Ministers  of  Ukraine  from  10  September  2014  On  the 
Optimisation  of  the  System  of  Central  Bodies  of  the  Executive  Power  the  State  Service  of 
Ukraine  on  Drugs  Control  the  latter  has  been  merged  with  the  State  Service  on 
Pharmaceuticals of Ukraine and its functions shall be transferred to the Ministry of Health of 
Ukraine. As of October 2014 the State policy on drugs control is implemented by the Ministry 
of  Healthcare  of  Ukraine  (MoH),  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  and  by  the  State  Service  of 
Ukraine on Drugs Control (SSDC).  

The  MoH  with  its  institutional  structure  has  full  capacity  to  manage  the  re-socialisation  of 
addicts  and  to  monitor  abuse  of  drugs/alcohol  other  than  contributing  effectively  to 
prevention. The institutional structure, subordinate to one of the Deputy Minister of Health, 
for  these  functions  includes:  the  Department  of  Medical  Care,  the  Scientific  &  Research 
Institute Social and Psychiatrics and drug abuse and the  Monitoring and Medical Centre on 
Drugs and Alcohol (UMMCDA). 

During 2014, 9.938 criminal offenses under Art. 307 of the Criminal Code were registered in 
the  Single  Register  of  pre-trial  investigations.  From  this  number  there  were  43.366  drug-
related  crimes  in  2014,  of  which  23%  (9.938)  concerned  the  sales  of  drugs.  Out  of  13.195 
criminal  offenses  under  Art.  307  of  the  Criminal  Code,  pre-trial  investigations  have  been 
20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
completed in 10.036 cases (76%). In 2014 6.930 criminal proceedings were brought to court 
(52.5% of the total number of criminal offenses). 

Measures have been taken to improve effectiveness of search and operational activities of the 
State  Border  Guard  Service  of  Ukraine.  In  46  kg  of  drugs  (90%  herbal)  and  140  kg  of 
psychotropic  substances  and  precursors  were  detected.  Since  2011,  annual  reports  are 
regularly  submitted  from  the  Monitoring  and  Medical  Centre  on  Drugs  and  Alcohol 
(UMMCDA)  to  the  European  Monitoring  Centre  for  Drugs  and  Drugs  Addictions 
(EMCDDA).  

(cid:190)  Sound  implementation  of  relevant  UN  and  Council  of  Europe  Conventions,  as 

well as GRECO recommendations in the above mentioned areas; 

The implementation of this benchmark has been evaluated in the other sections of this report. 

(cid:190)  Provision  of  sufficient  financial  and  human  resources,  including  adequate 
training  programmes,  to  ensure  effective  implementation  of  all  the  measures 
mentioned above; 

The implementation of this benchmark has been evaluated in the other sections of this report. 

2.3.2.  Judicial co-operation in criminal matters 

(cid:190)  Implementation  of  international  conventions  concerning  judicial  cooperation  in 

criminal matters (in particular Council of Europe Conventions); 

Ukraine  possesses  a  legal  framework  which  covers  fully  the  relevant  areas  of  co-operation 
such  as  mutual  assistance,  extradition,  transfer  of  sentenced  people,  transfer  of  criminal 
proceedings and recognition and enforcement of foreign criminal judgments. This framework 
is based on international and domestic legal instruments and is well supported by operational 
arrangements. Although some legal instruments are still missing, such as the United Nations 
Convention  against  Transnational  Organised  Crime,  the  overall  framework  is  sufficient  to 
face the needs of co-operation in criminal matters. 

Ukraine  shares  the  competences  between  the  Public  Prosecutor's  Office  and  the  Ministry  of 
Justice as the central authorities responsible for channelling incoming and outgoing requests 
for  international  co-operation.  In  Ukraine,  this  appears  to  be  functional  and  ensures  a 
consistent  and  predictable  approach  to  international  co-operation  related  issues.  Both 
authorities  have  data  bases  where  incoming  and  outgoing  requests  are  recorded  and  which 
allow  for  monitoring  their  timely  execution.  In  accordance  with  the  applicable  law  the 
incoming  requests  for  mutual  legal  assistance  shall  be  executed  within  one  month  from  the 
day the executing services have received them. However this timeframe may be extended if 
the  actions  which  have  to  be  taken  are  complex  and/or  of  large  scale.  On  the  other  hand 
urgent requests are taken as a priority.  

(cid:190)  High level of effectiveness of judicial co-operation in criminal matters of judges 

and prosecutors with the EU Member States. 

Ukraine  appears  to  have  made  good  use  of  its  legal  framework  by  granting  and  requesting 
international legal co-operation in several cases, some of them related to EU Member States. 
21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ukraine thus appears to be a stable part of the international legal co-operation network. This 
is due also to the deployment of sufficient human resources at central level.  The response to 
the foreign requests for co-operation seems to be satisfactory also because of the continuous 
training of judges and prosecutors. 
According  to  the  collected  data  for  incoming  requests  processed  by  the  Prosecutor's  Office,  
the  overall  number  of    such  requests  in  2014  (11  months)  was  865;  763  were  requests  for 
mutual legal assistance, 52 for transfer of  proceedings and 50 for extradition; out of the 763 
requests for mutual legal assistance, 359 came from EU Member States; out of the 52 requests 
for  transfer  of  proceedings,  38  came  from  EU  Member  States;  out  of  the  50  requests  for 
extradition,  7  came  from  EU  Member  States    a  total  of  404  requests  of  international  co-
operation were made by 23 Member States, viz. by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the 
Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,    Greece,  Hungary,  Italy,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  Romania,  Slovakia,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Sweden 
and the United Kingdom.   

According to the collected data for incoming requests processed by the Ministry of Justice,  
- the overall number of  such requests in 2014 (11 months) was 710; 
-  out  of  these  710,  563  were  requests  for  mutual  legal  assistance,  27  for  extradition,  5  for 
transfer of criminal proceedings, 9 for recognition and execution of foreign courts judgements 
and 106 for transfer of sentenced persons;    
- out of these 563 requests for mutual legal assistance, 349 came from EU Member States;  
- out of these 27 requests for extradition, 3 came from EU Member States;  
-  out  of  these  5  requests  of  transfer  of  criminal  proceedings,  none  came  from  EU  Member 
States; 
- out of these 9 requests for  recognition and execution of foreign court judgements, 4 came 
from EU Member States;  
- out of 106 requests for transfer of sentenced persons, 12 came from EU Member States; 
-  a total of 367 requests for international co-operation were made by 23 Member States, viz. 
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, 
Greece,  Hungary,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,    Poland,  Portugal,  Romania,  Spain,  Slovenia, 
Slovakia, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

So  far,  Ukraine  received  more  requests  for  co-operation  than  vice  versa.  In  the  future  this 
trend  may  change.  It  is  likely  that  the  two-way  flow  of  requests  to  EU  Member  States  will 
increase,  also  because  the  conflict  situation  in  certain  areas  of  Ukraine  can  be  expected  to 
trigger various kinds of trafficking.  

2.4.3. LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION   

(cid:190)  High  level  of  operational  and  special  investigative  capacity  of  law  enforcement 

services and its consistent and efficient use to tackle cross-border crime; 

The  current  Ukrainian  priority  appears  to  be  on  reforming  the  patrol  police  to  improve 
perception  of  safety  and  most  important  to  regain  citizen’s  trust,  and  to  reduce  the  wide 
spread corruption phenomena. According to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of 18 
November  2014  "On  the  organisation  in  Khmelnitsky  the  experiment"  the  experiment  of 
combining patrol service of Khmelnytsky City Department of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in 
Khmelnitsky  region  and  road  patrol  service  of  department  of  the  State  Automobile 
Inspectorate  of  the  city  service  in  Khmelnitskiy  region  into  a  single  patrol  service  for  joint 
duty  to  protect  public  order  and  the  prevention  of  offenses  ended  on  28  January  2015.  The 
22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
evaluation of the project mentioned is ongoing. The  assessment  of  the  project will pave the 
way  for  further  reform  of  the  system  of  bodies  of  internal  affairs  of  Ukraine,  including 
continuing the reform of the road guard and patrol service of Directorate of the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv. 
The overall police reform will contribute to improving the investigation process and structures 
serving to effectively tackle and disrupt organised criminal groups (OCGs) however, currently 
the ineffectiveness of investigation of law enforcement services remains a concern. 

The effective investigations are negatively affected by several factors such as: the widespread 
phenomena of corruption practice among  the law enforcement services: unclear competence 
to counteract organised crime in relation to the definition provided by the paragraphs 3 and 4 
of article 28 of the Criminal Code; overlaying competences shared by the Prosecutor and the 
investigator as per the defined overlapping competences listed in the articles 36, 38 and 39 of 
the CPC; overlaps in terms of mandates for the lack of clarities provided by the article 216 of 
the  CPC  and  by  the  law  On  the  organisational  and  legal  framework  to  combat  organised 
crime;  the  continuous  and  rapid  amendments  of  numerous  and  principal  legal  instruments 
serving  to  fight  organised  crime  and  the  lack  of  interconnected  IT  systems  serving  the 
purposes of investigation.   

(cid:190)  High  level  of  effectiveness  of  law  enforcement  co-operation  among  relevant 
national agencies - especially border guards, police, customs officers -, as well as 
cooperation with the judicial authorities; 

The interagency cooperation and cooperation is considered to be satisfactory but still subject 
to important improvements, which would contribute to the effectiveness of the investigations. 
According  to  the  Law  on  the  General  Prosecutor  (PPO  Law)  coordinative  and  cooperating 
functions are assigned to the Prosecutor’s Office. A Joint Order has been signed by the heads 
of the law enforcement agencies and was updated on January 2013 so as to be aligned with 
articles 36-41 of the CPC.  

Analytical reports aiming at specifying encountered problems and solutions t are in place. For 
instance, in case a report highlights a specific crime in a particular area of Ukraine, research is 
conducted,  solutions  are  proposed  by  tasking  the  different  law  enforcement  agencies  to 
undertake  simultaneous  and  coordinated  targeted  actions  and  measures  to  either  reduce  or 
resolve the highlighted problem. These reports are usually issued once or twice a year by the 
Prosecutor’s  Office  upon  the information gathered from  all law enforcement agencies.  Joint 
analytical reports are also issued. 

The possibility exists also to establish temporary ad-hoc Multiagency Task-Forces. However, 
due to the lack of an IT system, the information exchange among agencies is still taking place 
via  written  requests  exchanged  mostly  via  couriers  with  a  huge  negative  impact  on  both 
human  and  financial  resources  as  well  as  on  the  speediness  and  confidentiality  of  the 
information exchange serving to boost investigations. 

With the exception of the SBGS headquarters, the SBGS is not interconnected at the BCPs to 
the  ICPO  I-24/7  system.  The  SBGS  Headquarter  and  the  SBGS  based  in  the  airports  have 
been  granted  direct  access  to  the  Ministry  of  Interior  sub-systems,  whereas,  the  territorial 
units  of  the  Border  Guard  Service  have  indirect  access  to  most  of  the  sub-systems 
administrated by the MoI via the Border Guard Headquarters.  However, most of the Border 
Crossing  Points  are  still  not  interconnected  to  the  MoI  sub-systems.  In  the  interagency  IT 
23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
system (granting access only to some set of data – for instance on wanted persons), searchable 
by most of law enforcement agencies, including BCPs, the information is made available with 
24  hours  delay.  Hence,  if  a  Wanted  Red  Notice  is  issued,  it  will  be  available  to  the  Border 
Crossing Points with a one day delay.  
The  budget  allocated  to  Law  Enforcement  Agencies  and  SBU  for  the  2014  and  the  2015 
shows  that  both  agencies  are  financially  independent.  Nevertheless,  the  budget  should  be 
increased  in  order  to  tackle  long  term  investigations  against  well-established  organised 
criminal groups. 

(cid:190)  Strengthened  regional 

law  enforcement  co-operation  and  bilateral  and 
multilateral  operational  cooperation  agreements,  including  by  sharing  on  time 
relevant information with competent law enforcement authorities of EU Member 
States. 

According  to  the  provisions  in  article  571  of  the  CPC  regarding  the  establishment  and 
activities of joint investigative groups, Ukraine can actively participate in Joint Investigative 
Teams (JITs) with the condition that the criminal offence has been committed in the territories 
of  several  countries.  The  legal  provision  makes reference  only  to  pre-trial  investigation  and 
not  to  investigative  actions  that  may  be  needed  before  the  case  is  registered  (operational 
investigative  phase).  This  means  that  if  the  international  JIT  is  established  for  confirming 
element  of  crimes  (operational  investigative  phase)  Ukraine  faces  some  legal  constraints 
impeding them to actively participate in JITs. 

The  decision  to  set-up  the  JIT  is  taken  by  the  General  Prosecutor,  upon  a  request  of  the 
investigator or of the public prosecutor and of foreign competent authorities. As stipulated in 
the paragraph 3 of the article 571 of the CPC, only the Ministry of Interior can coordinate the 
required activities to be conducted by the International Joint Investigative Team.  

In  terms  of  international  law  enforcement  agencies,  Ukraine  is  active  and  well  prepared  to 
either seek or provide cooperation. Particularly intensive international cooperation is recorded 
with  the  neighbouring  countries.  The  Ministry  of  Interior  (MoI)  has  signed  bilateral  and 
multilateral  MoUs  with  46  countries  as  well  as  with  several  international  organisations, 
including Interpol, Europol (strategic) and OLAF. International law enforcement cooperation 
is also foreseen based on the principle of reciprocity as stipulated in the law on international 
treaties of Ukraine.  

Ukraine  is  cooperating  with  Europol  on  the  basis  of  a  strategic  agreement  signed  on 
December 2009, which, came into force on November 2010 upon the adoption of the “Law on 
ratification  of  agreement  on  strategic  cooperation  between  Ukraine  and  Europol”, 
subsequently signed by the President of Ukraine. In 2011 a Europol Cooperation Unit (ECU) 
was  established  within  the  Ministry  of  Interior  as  part  of  NCB-Interpol  of  Ukraine.  The 
Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Europol Director on 19 March 2015. The 
SIENA  secure  communication  channel  is  being  worked  out  on  the  base  of  a  bilateral  MoU 
signed  on  the  11  March  2011.  As  soon  as  the  SIENA  secure  communication  channel  is 
established  and  the  Ukrainian  report  on  data  protection  is  approved  by  Europol,  the 
operational agreement can be signed and came into force via a law ratifying the agreement. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.3.4.  Data protection 

(cid:190)  Implementation  of  the  law  on  the  protection  of  personal  data  and  ensuring 
efficient functioning of the independent data supervisory authority also through 
the allocation of the necessary financial and human resources. 

Data protection in Ukraine is moving forward in giving effect to a law that is closely aligned 
with  European  norms.  Before  the  Ombudsman  assumed  responsibility  for  oversight  of  the 
data  protection  law  on  1  January  2014,  responsibility  lay  with  the  State  data  protection 
service, which was linked to the Ministry of Justice.  As a branch of Government, the State 
service  did  not  meet  the  essential  requirement,  enshrined  in  international  standards,  for  the 
data  protection  supervisory  authority  to  be  independent.    Placing  responsibility  for  data 
protection supervision with the Ombudsman meets that requirement. Statutory changes have 
been  made  to  ensure  that  the  Ombudsman  is  able  to  exercise  all  the  functions  of  a  data 
protection supervisory authority found in European norms.   

The Ombudsman has many data protection functions: providing advice to data controllers and 
data  subjects;  dealing  with  complaints;  carrying  out  inspections;  bringing  cases  involving 
breaches of the law to court; providing training and awareness raising activities; drawing up 
by-laws;  preparing  codes  of  practice  and  other  guidance;  keeping  informed  of  international 
best practice; keeping the primary legislation under review; managing the notification system.  
The Ombudsman has the power to order data controllers to change their practice if she finds 
the controllers to be in breach of the data protection law.  The Ombudsman has no power to 
impose a penalty herself, but may take court action for an administrative offence in respect of 
failure to comply with her orders.  There is no criminal liability.  The court has the power to 
impose fines.  The fines are imposed not on the data controllers as legal persons, but on the 
individual members of staff who are judged to have been at a fault.  There are different scales 
of fine for different types of violation, ranging from 1,700 UAH – 3,400UAH for the simplest 
violations  up  to  5,100  UAH  –  8,500UAH  for  repeat  violations.    The  Ombudsman  currently 
has 8 data protection cases before the courts. 

The fact that there is no power to impose a penalty on legal persons is a weakness. However, 
private sector representatives have stated that the fact that liability lies with individuals helps 
motivate their staff to comply with the data protection law. 

In  2014,  the  DPA  received  just  over  600  written  complaints  from  individuals  claiming  that 
their rights under the data protection law had been breached. For a country with a population 
of over 40 million people, the figure of 600 seems low, suggesting that individuals’ awareness 
of their rights and how to enforce them is also low.  That can perhaps be explained at least to 
some  extent  by  the  fact  that  a  data  protection  law  in  Ukraine  is  still  a  comparatively  new 
concept, and that the present arrangements for independent oversight by the Ombudsman have 
been in force only since 1 January 2014.   

The  DPA  also  dealt  with  928  written  “appeals”  (which  include  the  600  or  so  complaints 
mentioned above) and over 3,000 telephone enquiries; they carried out 53 on-site inspections, 
which  led  to  8  cases  being  taken  to  court;  they  prepared  written  advice  to  a  number  of 
Government Ministries on adapting their internal rules to meet data protection requirements; 
they participated in 29 training sessions for a range of public and private bodies. Moreover, 
they managed the data controller notification system. 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Regarding  the  implementation  of  the  law  on  the  protection  of  personal  data  in  the  public 
sector, the focus appears to be on protecting databases with little recognition of the fact that 
data protection applies to all of any organisation’s work.  The need to understand and comply 
with  data  protection  law  is  not  limited  to  those  who  have  access  to  or  otherwise  work  with 
databases which contain personal data. The explanations of the arrangements for safeguarding 
the personal data that are held in the agencies’ databases suggested that those arrangements 
offer  good  security.    In  particular  in  the  case  of  the  more  detailed  presentations  from  the 
Ministry of the Interior and the State Migration Service, there was an emphasis on the security 
(both  technical  and  physical)  of  the  systems  used  to  support  the  databases  and  on  the 
procedural  arrangements  for  access  to  the  databases  and  for  logging  the  transactions 
performed.  Many  of  the  representatives  of  public  bodies  also  stressed  that  their  employees 
who have access to the databases are required to give a written undertaking not to disclose the 
personal data to which they have access.  However, some are clearly aware of the wider scope 
of data protection, such as the Ministry of the Interior which claims to process their personal 
data according to the standards set by the Council of Europe Recommendation on Regulating 
the Use of Personal Data in the Police Sector.  

Private  sector  representatives  showed  a  better  understanding  of  the  wide-ranging  nature  of 
data  protection  requirements  than  their  public  sector  counterparts.    They  explained  that,  as 
profit-making  bodies,  they  needed  to  keep  closely  informed  about  and  respond  quickly  and 
appropriately to developments that were likely to affect their business activities. They stressed 
that they worked closely with the data protection supervisory authority.    

The Ombudsman’s total budget, covering all her functions including data protection, for 2015 
had  been  set  at  21.7  million  UAH  an  increase  from  20.8  UAH  the  previous  year.  Of  this, 
800,000 UAH had been allocated to the Data Protection Department. However, according to 
an  update  from  the  Ukrainian  authorities,  the  budget  of  the  Ombudsman’s  Secretariat  was 
recently increased by 7 million UAH earmarked for three departments of the Secretariat: Data 
Protection Department, Unit for non-discrimination and Unit for access to public information. 
The overall budget of the Secretariat for 2015 should therefore be 28 678 300 UAH.  

At  present  the  Data  Protection  Department  consists  of  10  people.  As  a  result  of  the  budget 
increase,  the  Ukrainian  authorities  have  announced  a  competition  for  the  recruitment  of  10 
more  officials  starting  in  April  2015.  By  the  end  of  of  2015  another  competition  should  be 
held in order to meet the target of employing 25 staff. 

In addition to the staff who works full-time on data protection, the Department is able to draw 
on  support  from  other  parts  of  the  Ombudsman’s  office.  For  example,  the  Department 
employs  no  IT  specialist.    However,  when  technical  expertise  is  needed,  for  example  when 
on-site  inspections  of  data  controllers  are  carried  out,  the  Department  is  assisted  by  the 
Ombudsman’s IT specialists. 

Giving  responsibility  for  oversight  of  the  data  protection  law  to  the  Ombudsman  meets  the 
necessary requirement that there should be an independent supervisory authority.  A possible 
concern  about  placing  this  responsibility  within  an  organisation  that  has  a  number  of  other 
functions  is  that  the  structural  arrangements  might  be  such  as  to  dilute  the  focus  on  data 
protection.  However, that does not seem to be the case.  The Data Protection Department that 
has  been  established  within  the  Ombudsman’s  office  has  no  duties  other  than  in  respect  of 
data protection, and it pursues those duties with vigour, commitment and good understanding 
26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of  a  complex  topic,      however,  at  present  is  understaffed,  especially  given  the  fact  that  the 
Ombudsman has many data protection functions: providing advice to data controllers and data 
subjects; dealing with complaints; carrying out inspections; bringing cases involving breaches 
of  the  law  to  court;  providing  training  and  awareness  raising  activities;  drawing  up 
subordinate legislation; preparing codes of practice and other guidance; keeping informed of 
international  best  practice;  keeping  the  primary  legislation  under  review;  managing  the 
notification  system.  In 
the 
announcements  of  the  Ukrainian  authorities  the  Data  Protection  Department  will  be  further 
reinforced .. 

its  new  responsibilities  and  following 

the  context  of 

Awareness  of  data  protection  in  Ukraine  remains  very  low.  In  2014,  the  DPA  gave  29 
“lectures” for a range of audiences: civil servants and local self-government officials; human 
resource  management  units;  education  employees;  medical  employees,  law-enforcement 
bodies; advocates; and private businesses.   For the future, a programme of training activities 
is  planned  in  the  context  of  the  EU/Council  of  Europe  programme  for  Strengthening 
Information Society in Ukraine. 

2.4 Block 4: External Relations and Fundamental Rights 

2.4.1. Freedom of movement within Ukraine 

(cid:190)  Ensuring  that  freedom  of  movement  within  Ukraine  of  Ukrainian  citizens  and 
legally  staying  foreigners  or  stateless  persons  is  not  subject  to  unjustified 
restrictions, including measures of a discriminatory nature, based on any ground 
such  as  sex,  race,  colour,  ethnic  or  social  origin,  genetic  features,  language, 
religion  or  belief,  political  or  any  other  opinion,  membership  of  a  national 
minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation. 

(cid:190)  Providing  accessible  information  on  registration  requirements  to  foreigners 
wishing to reside in Ukraine, and ensure equal and transparent implementation 
of respective legislation. 

The primary legislation on internal freedom of movement is the ‘Law of Ukraine on Freedom 
of  Movement  and  Free  Choice  of  Place  of  Residence  in  Ukraine’  of  December  2003  (as 
amended in 2012). The Ukrainian authorities implement this legal framework and have taken 
steps to extend its provisions to citizens residing in territories not under effective control of 
Ukrainian authorities.  

In reaction to the illegal annexation of Crimea and  the conflict in eastern  Ukraine,  the Law 
"On  Ensuring  Rights  and  Freedoms  of  Citizens  and  Legal  Regime  on  the  Temporarily 
Occupied  Territory  of  Ukraine",  was  adopted  on  15  April  and  amended  on  6  May  2014  to 
provide a legal framework for Crimea/Sevastopol, including the protection of the rights and 
freedoms  of  citizens  of  Ukraine  residing  there.  The  law  includes  provisions  referring  to  the 
crossing  of  the  administrative  line.  It  also  guarantees  the  right  of  Ukrainian  citizens  to  free 
and  unimpeded  access  to  the  territory  through  the  control  points  of  entry  and  exit  upon 
presentation of a document confirming a person's identity  and citizenship of Ukraine. Entry 
and  exit  of  foreigners  and  stateless  persons  to  the  territory  are  allowed  only  by  special 
permission through the control points of entry and exit. Concerning the parts of Donetsk and 
Lugansk oblast not under effective control of Ukrainian authorities, the State Security Service 
of Ukraine issued on 22 January 2015 order Nr 27 "on the adoption of a temporary procedure 
27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to control the transfer of people, vehicles and cargos" to regulate the access to and exit from 
these areas. In praxis, it has been reported that citizens risked their life to exit the area. 

In  response  to  the  new  issue  of  Internally  Displaced  Persons  (IDPs),  a  legal  framework  has 
been  put  in  place  by  the  Law  of  Ukraine  “On  ensuring  of  rights  and  freedoms  of  internally 
displaced persons”, adopted on 20 October 2014. According to the law, the de facto place of 
residence  of  IDPs  is  indicated  in  the  IDP  document  on  the  basis  of  their  statement, 
alternatively  they  can  indicate  the  address  of  local  social  services  office,  without  providing 
any  additional  documents.  It  was,  however,  reported  that  this  provision  is  not  implemented 
consistently  in  all  regions.  For  example,  some  IDPs  were  requested  to  provide  official 
residence registration to prove that they come from the conflict area.  

The Law “On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens and Stateless Persons” of 2011 provides a 
legal  structure  to  ensure  the  principle  of  equality  of  treatment,  expanded  grounds  for 
permanent and temporary residence of foreign citizens and stateless persons on the territory of 
Ukraine and for the issuing of residence permits for this purpose. It also introduces provisions 
for family reunification. The Ukrainian authorities have shown commitment to implementing 
the  legal  framework.  In  practice,  there  is  nevertheless  a  requirement,  when  applying  for  an 
immigration  permit,  to  submit  a  medical  certificate  certifying  that  a  person  does  not  suffer 
from addiction or have a contagious disease including HIV/AIDS. According to International 
Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, there is no public health rationale for restricting 
liberty of movement or choice of residence on the grounds of HIV status. 

The Ukrainian authorities provide publically information on the registration requirements to 
foreigners wishing to reside in Ukraine, which is available on the internet as well.  

2.4.2. Conditions and procedures for the issue of identity documents 

(cid:190)  Full,  effective  access  to  travel  and  identity  documents  for  all  Ukrainian  citizens 
including  women,  children,  people  with  disabilities,  people  belonging  to 
minorities and other vulnerable groups. 

The Ukrainian authorities implement the current legal framework as amended by the Law “On 
Unified  State  Demographic  Register  and  documents  that  confirm  citizenship  of  Ukraine” 
adopted on 20 November 2012 which establishes a legal basis of the issuance of identity and 
travel  documents.  Ukraine's  State  Migration  Service  reports  that  the  system  for  issuing 
identity documents is fully funded and that there are no issues with delay. The costs for the 
issue of identity documents allows for discounts for disabled and other vulnerable people.  

2.4.3. Citizens’ rights including protection of minorities  

(cid:190)  Effective  implementation  of  legislation  and  policies  on  anti-discrimination, 

implementation of relevant UN and Council of Europe instruments. 

The  Law  on  preventing  and  combating  discrimination,  adopted  in  September  2012  (as 
amended in May 2014) is being implemented by state agencies and judicial bodies and has led 
to the emergence of a case-law in this area. The Ombudsperson, exercising the functions of an 
equality  body,  monitors  proactively  its  implementation,  including  through  the  Strategy  on 
Preventing and Combating Discrimination in Ukraine 2015-2017. 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The equality institution has been set up. As foreseen in the Law on preventing and combating 
discrimination,  the  Parliamentary  Commissioner  for  Human  Rights  (Ombudsperson)  has 
assumed  an  important  role  in  the  fight  against  discrimination  through  its  control  and 
monitoring  functions  in  the  public  and  private  sphere  and  may  bring  cases  to  the  court  to 
provide a legal analysis in the framework of ongoing judicial proceedings. In order to fulfil 
this  role,  the  Ombudsperson  appointed  a  Representative  for  the  Rights  of  the  Child,  Non-
Discrimination  and  Gender  Equality.  The  Representative  coordinates  the  non-discrimination 
department  which  has  six  employees.  Another  three  employees  cover  the  field  of  gender 
equality. The institution developed a range of contacts and it cooperates in particularly closely 
with civil society. In 2014, the institution received 510 complaints. Two thirds of them related 
to possible discrimination. The Ombudsperson herself initiated 22 proceedings on the basis of 
public information. Apart from this, the work of the Ombudsperson with regard to promoting 
and protecting the rights of IDPs as set out in the Law on Right and Freedoms of Internally 
Displaced  Persons,  is  important,  in  particular  due  to  the  lack  of  any  other  monitoring 
mechanism for the protection of IDPs against discrimination. Any discrimination on the basis 
of the status of IDPs is legally prohibited. 

The  Ombudsperson  has  performed  its  anti-discrimination  duties  very  dynamically,  partly 
thanks  to  close  cooperation  with  civil  society.  However,  it  lacks  adequate  budgetary  and 
human  resources  for  ensuring  the  sustainability  of  the  fulfilment  of  its  legal  powers  and 
policies. 

Additional  legal  guarantees  are  not  in  place  to  ensure  in  the  implementation  phase  that 
discrimination on the basis of all grounds will be prohibited, that procedural guarantees (i.e.: 
sanctions  and  compensation)  are  sufficiently  and  effectively  ensured,  that  derogations  to 
"discrimination" and "direct discrimination" are applied in line with the principles of necessity 
and  proportionality  in  the  Ukrainian  legal  system,  that  the  territorial  scope  of  the  law  (i.e.: 
application  to  legal  persons),  protection  against  victimisation  and  the  concept  of  reasonable 
accommodation are clarified. 

As  mentioned  in  the  fourth  progress  report, the Ukrainian government  openly  committed to 
explicitly prohibit in its upcoming reform of the Labour Code discrimination on the grounds 
of sexual orientation. The Ministry for Social Policy has prepared amendments to the Labour 
Code  for  public  discussion,  but  the  legislative  process  has  not  been  carried  out  yet.  Hate 
crimes against LGBTI are generally not properly qualified and investigated. The Cabinet of 
ministers/government adopted on 22 October 2014 an order No. 1118 requiring from the staff 
of Ministry of Interior and police tolerance towards vulnerable groups including LGBTI and 
special attention to the protection of their rights. 

Prevention  activities  in  the  field  of  anti-discrimination  are  mostly  performed  through 
programmes  conducted  by  non-governmental  organisations  and  financed  by  international 
donors,  which  raises  the  question  of  their  sustainability.  Public  policies  suffer  from 
insufficient resources. 
In  terms  of  sanctioning  facts  of  discrimination,  there  have  already  been  legal  complaints, 
judicial  cases  and  remedies,  including  with  respect  to  discrimination  on  the  grounds  of 
disabilities, gender or language. The number of complaints is low, possibly due to insufficient 
knowledge of antidiscrimination legislation by citizens, limited knowledge of the field by the 
law enforcement representatives as well as discouraging length of the settlement procedures. 

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With  respect  to  the  Roma  minority,  the  Ukrainian  authorities  have  implemented  various 
activities addressing health, education and cultural issues. In cooperation with the Council of 
Europe, Roma mediators have been trained. 55 social mediators work now in Ukraine. At the 
same  time,  the  2013  Strategy  on  protection  and  integration  of  Roma  people  to  Ukrainian 
society and the Action Plan on the implementation of the Strategy remain without a defined 
budget,  assessment  indicators  and  monitoring  mechanism.  The  coordination  of  actors 
responsible  for  the  implementation  (ministries,  central  and  local  public  entities)  faces 
difficulties. Most projects concerning Roma are sponsored by international donors. 

Implementation of relevant UN and Council of Europe instruments 

In the field of the protection of persons belonging to national minorities, Ukraine has signed 
and  ratified  the  Framework  Convention  for  the  protection  of  national  minorities  and  the 
European Charter for regional or minority languages. The internal legal framework is based 
on the 1992 Law on national minorities and the 2012 Law on the principles of state language 
policy.  

Available  data  show  that  internal  legislation  and  relevant  international  standards  are 
implemented  with  the  aim  to  secure  the  right  to  maintaining,  expressing  and  developing 
ethnic identity. In terms of the right to schooling and education in the native language, there is 
an effective institutional framework. Persons belonging to national minorities are represented 
in  local  government  as  well  as  in  the  Ukrainian  Parliament.  With  regard  to  the  access  to 
culture for national minorities, financing is granted within the budgetary/economic possibility 
to allow preserving, expressing and developing cultural identity. As one of the most ethnically 
diverse  regions,  Zakarpattya  shows,  inter-ethnic  relations  are  carefully  addressed  through 
continuous dialogue on the ground. 

The  problems  reported  by  the  representatives  of  persons  belonging  to  national  minorities, 
especially in education are out on the agenda of public authorities, and progressively settled.  
Ukraine  implements  at  reasonable  level  the  legal  framework  on  the  protection  of  national 
minorities, as demonstrated also in Zakarpattya, one of its most ethnically diverse regions. 

The  Government  of  Ukraine  provided  satisfaction  payments  in  the  cases  Fedorchenko  and 
Lozenko  versus  Ukraine  and  Pichkur  versus  Ukraine.  The  Ministry  of  Justice  ensured  that 
these rulings are brought to the attention of judges and law enforcement officers. 

(cid:190)  Effective  implementation  of  the  Action  Plan  on  fight  against  discrimination; 
general  awareness  raising  campaigns  against  racism,  xenophobia,  anti-semitism 
and other forms of discrimination; strengthening the responsible bodies for anti-
discrimination policy and combating racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism. 

The  Ombudsperson  adopted  a  Strategy  on  Preventing  and  Combating  Discrimination  in 
Ukraine  2014-2017.  She  presented  in  February  2015  an  interim  report  which  assesses  the 
implementation  of  the  2014  Action  Plan  towards  the  implementation  of  this  strategy  of  17 
March 2014. The Action Plan contains measurable benchmarks. For the reported period, the 
institution reported that six out of the 11 analysed adopted laws comprised provisions contrary 
to  the  non-discrimination  principles;  the  Parliament  adopted  amendments  in  three  cases  to 
eliminate the provisions in question. The equality body also submitted an analysis of 7 draft 
laws containing discriminatory provisions in order to amend the respective bills. It issued an 
opinion for a court which was in the course of settling a discrimination case. According to the 
30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
existing law, such an opinion is not mandatory. Studies were carried out assessing the access 
of  disabled  persons  to  labour  and  services;  the  situation  of  women  living  in  rural  areas  and 
integration, hate crimes and discrimination against migrants. The government has not adopted 
a strategy to prevent and fight discrimination and an action plan for its implementation. 

Antidiscrimination  being  a  new  instrument,  the  society  is  not  much  aware  of  the  related 
legislation, legal instruments available to victims and possible remedies. For the time being, 
awareness  campaigns  against  racism,  xenophobia,  anti-semitism  and  other  forms  of 
discrimination  are  mainly  performed  by  non-governmental  organisations  (for  instance,  a 
campaign  on  the  promotion  of  rights  of  LGBTI  persons  was  launched  in  August  2014  by 
Ombudsperson  together  with  the  Gay  Alliance  of  Ukraine).  The  Ombudsperson  prepared 
together  with  the  Coalition  against  Discrimination  in  Ukraine  a  concept  for  anti-
discrimination  awareness  raising  campaign  for  the  years  2015-2017.  Its  implementation  has 
not started yet. 

In terms of strengthening the responsible bodies for anti-discrimination policy and combating 
racism,  xenophobia  and  anti-semitism,  the  competences  of  the  Ombudsperson  were 
broadened  in  2014,  as  she  received  legal  powers  in  the  field  of  relations  between  private 
entities.  

(cid:190)  Provision of specific training to law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges 

potentially involved in the prosecution of hate crimes 

Law  enforcement  officials,  prosecutors  and  judges  are  prepared  and  willing  to  gain  the 
necessary  knowledge  of  the  anti-discrimination  legislation.  The  Ombudsperson  initiated 
together  with  non-governmental  organisations  a  series  of  training  courses  for  the 
representatives of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors. The National School of Judges 
in Ukraine is responsible for lifelong training of judges and candidates for judges. The model 
programme  for  training  of  judges  of  local  courts  of  general  jurisdiction  foresees  an 
antidiscrimination  component.  The  observance  and  case-law  on  article  14  of  the  European 
Convention  on  Human  rights  are  addressed  in  a  specific  training  course  devoted  to  this 
convention.  

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX 

ASSESSMENT OF MIGRATORY AND SECURITY IMPACTS 

1. INTRODUCTION  

1.1. Background 

According  to  the  VLAP  methodology,  before  moving  to  second  phase,  the  Commission 
committed to provide an assessment of possible migratory and security impacts of future visa 
liberalisation for Ukrainian citizens travelling to the EU. Due to the exceptional situation at 
the  Eastern  borders,  the  Commission  considered  in  the  4th  report  on  the  implementation  by 
Ukraine  of  the  Action  Plan  from  27  May  2014  that  issuing  such  an  assessment  at  that  time 
would have only a limited value.  In the context of Ukraine having entered the second phase 
of  its  Visa  Liberalisation  Action  Plan,  it  is  necessary  to  review  recent  developments  about 
possible  impacts  of  Ukrainian  nationals  travelling  to  the  EU  Schengen  area  without  visa 
restrictions.  Taking  into  account  the  current  situation  at  the  Eastern  Ukraine  border,  it  has 
been difficult to obtain reliable data on several areas. However, the Commission continues to 
monitor and update the available data. 

1.2. Methodology 

Based on the contributions received, the present assessment aims to identify the main key 
trends  in  the  areas  of  migration,  mobility  and  security  in  relation  to  Ukraine  and  the 
possible  impact  for  the  Schengen  area  of  a  visa-free  regime.    This  assessment  has  been 
primarily  based  on  the  inputs  provided  by  the  European  Agency  for  the  Management  of 
Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union 
(FRONTEX);  the  European  Union’s  law  enforcement  agency  EUROPOL);  the  European 
Asylum Support Office (EASO); the European University Institute – Migration Policy Centre; 
EU  Border  Assistance  Mission  to  the  Republic  of  Moldova  and  Ukraine  (EUBAM);  and 
Ukrainian authorities as well as on other available sources, including Eurostat data. 

This  assessment  reflects  the  state  of  play  as  of  March  2015  and  therefore  represents  a 
preliminary  snapshot  of  the  current  migratory  and  security  possible  impacts  of  a  visa-free 
regime with Ukraine. This assessment does not constitute a benchmark of the VLAP. 

2. ASSESSMENT OF MIGRATORY IMPACTS 

2.1. Regular and irregular migration: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

2.1.1. General overview 

Travel flows and cultural, political, linguistic and economic links with the EU result in large 
migratory  movements  between  Ukraine  and  its  neighbouring  EU  Member  States  (Poland, 
Romania, Slovakia and Hungary). Other Member States such as Italy and Germany and Czech 
Republic are also attractive destinations for Ukrainians labour migration.  

Around half of all Ukrainian labour migrants opt to work in either the Russian Federation or 
Belarus. The other half prefer to stay in several EU Member States and to a lesser extent also 
32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in  Canada,  US,  and  Turkey.  According  to  FRONTEX,  there  are  migration  preferences  of 
Ukrainians by region of origin (western part of Ukraine prefer migrating to Poland and other 
Member States while central and Eastern part prefer the Russian Federation for cultural and 
linguistic  reasons).  Zakarpatia  region  is  the  one  with  the  highest  share  of  labour  migrants. 
They prefer to migrate to Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia due to language similarities. 
According  to  the  International  Organisation  for  Migration  (IOM),  70%  of  labour  migrants 
from Ukraine are male and aged between 20 to 49. Men are mainly working in manual labour 
industries (construction, agriculture) and women tend to be domestic or seasonal agricultural 
workers.  

2.1.2. Regular migration facts 

Eurostat data shows that in 2013 there were roughly 850.000 Ukrainian nationals legally 
residing  in  the  EU  with  almost  90%  registered  in  only  six  Member  States:  Italy 
(233.604),  Poland  (175.656),  Germany  (109.781),  the  Czech  Republic  (107.254),  Spain 
(80.866) and Portugal (41.090).   

Better working conditions when compared to Ukraine or Russian Federation are the main pull 
factors  for  Ukrainians  going  to  Poland  and  Czech  Republic.  Higher  wages,  frequent 
regularisation  programmes  and  numerous  diaspora  are  often  mentioned  as  important  factors 
for  going  to  Italy,  Spain  or  Portugal.  Poland  has  a  specific  role  due  to  its  geographical 
position and registers many Ukrainians going to Poland for shopping on daytrips. According 
to  FRONTEX,  as  of  2013,  more  than  89%  of  Ukrainians  travelled  to  Poland  to  shop  and 
stayed there up to one day. Almost 60% travellers come from towns located up to 30 km from 
the border.  

However, there are likely up to 400.000 additional  Ukrainians living and working in the 
EU without legal status.  

Furthermore,  with  16%  of  the  population  aged  under  15  in  20133,  Ukraine  will  have  to 
provide inclusive economic opportunities in the near future to avoid large emigration flows. 

As  the  data  in  Table  1  suggests,  the  number  of  Ukrainian  citizens  receiving  valid  residence 
permits in the EU increased from an average level of 150.000 each year since 2010 to more 
than 230.000 in 2013. Eurostat data is not yet available for 2014. Poland is the MS offering 
the highest number of residence permits with 171.769 cases in 2013 (which represent almost 
73% of the permits).  

2008 

Table 1: First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (Ukraine), 2008-2013 
Member State or 
Associated State 
European Union (28 
countries) 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 

166,940 125,752
681
297
5,521
2,287

160,221  236,691
518
476
18,622
2,341

115,770
394
244
19,617
3,805

87,740
647
250
7,945
3,174

599 
398 
18,152 
2,181 

760
249
13,679
2,604

2013 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

3 www.iom.int, Ukraine country profile. 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
: 

: 

: 

: 

42,328
1,040
1,067
987

2,380
651
459
587
8,563
967

3,179
645
211
821
4,411
1,152

3,288
252
211
964
3,847
1,067

3,294
595
378
798
5,112
1,008

Germany  
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
Source: Eurostat data last updated 24.02.15, extracted on 25.03.2015 

39,640
983
378
366
81
2,829
63
505
700
8,447
2,409
294
221
1,356
600
1,908
3,759
22

48,249
897
267
222
43
2,681
55
508
832
76,485
2,064
257
209
969
658
1,348
4,275
11

: 
15,409
752
466
409
60
2,104
58
603
903
75,168
1,789
214
262
686
813
1,459
5,392
25

10,203
151
569
635
8,003
3,795
445
335
1,761
945
1,788
4,051
30

822

687

873

745

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

4,548 
403 
208 
742 
3,686 
1,241 

8,493 
611 
733 
773 
60 
1,119 
78 
632 
1,053 

4,838
440
252
885
3,637
1,413
67
13,996
576
678
873
59
930
361
879
903
104,730  171,769
1,126
254
175
1,040
938
1,192
7,453
27
19
787
1,499

1,517 
309 
181 
782 
866 
1,412 
4,714 
26 

778 
1,133 

: 

: 

Visa Applications 

It is important to note the evolution of the issuing and refusal rates for short stay visas. DG 
HOME data based on contributions from the Member States (Table 2 below) shows a 12.6% 
decrease in visa applications filed by Ukrainian citizens in 2014 as compared with 2013. 
1.35 million C visas have been issued to Ukrainian citizens in 2014 (in 2013 – 1.54 million). 
The  average  visa  rejection  rate  for  Ukrainian  Short  term  visa  applications  in  2013  in 
Schengen states was 1.7%, while in 2014 the rate of refusals grew to 2.1%.  

Countries  that  received  the  most  visa  applications  from  Ukrainian  citizens  were  Poland 
(566.976), Greece (145.621), Hungary (118.740), Germany (101.867) and Spain (76.983).   

The share of multiple entry visas issued to Ukrainian nationals during 2014 increased to 
51.1% (37.7% in 2013). This is likely a direct result of the implementation of the provisions 
introduced by the upgraded Visa Facilitation Agreement with Ukraine, in force since 1 July 
2013, which limited the discretion of Member State consuls when issuing multiple-entry visas 
for the  categories of Ukrainian visa applicants covered by the facilitations.  Half of  the  total 
Multiple  Visa  (708.826)  has  been  delivered  by  Poland  in  2014  (368.515)  followed  by 
34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hungary  (65.665),  Greece  (52.189),  Germany  (39.338),  Slovakia  (35.251)  and  Lithuania 
(30.746).  

Table 2: Applications for short-term and Multiple entry visa Schengen in Ukraine, 2013-
2014 (countries with Ukrainian consulate) 

Schengen State

C visas 
applied for 
2013

C visas 
issued 
2013

MEVs 
issued 
2013

MEVs 
issuing 
rate 2013

C visas not 
issued 
2013

C visa 
refusal 
rate 2013

C visas 
applied for 
2014

C visas 
issued 
2014

MEVs 
issued 
2014

MEVs 
issuing 
rate 2014

C visas not 
issued 
2014

C visa 
refusal 
rate 2014

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Total
Source: European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs. 

22,510
0.7%
8,416
5.4%
59,607
1.2%
7,734
1.7%
14,993
3.0%
13,772
1.4%
35,865
0.8%
101,867
6.6%
145,621
0.6%
118,740
0.9%
53,626
1.4%
11,873
7.2%
38,993
0.2%
22,303
1.3%
6,221
11.6%
566,976
0.0%
6,008
151.7%
49,466
0.0%
5,956
8.2%
76,983
0.2%
9,325
5.9%
10,231
1.7%
1.7% 1,387,086

224
27.2%
33.4%            487 
18.0%            949 
35.4%
117
57.4%            530 
229
16.4%
14.8%
387
34.0%         7,390 
1,214
11.4%
1,376
39.1%
859
18.1%
69
36.5%
350
62.8%
831
49.2%
176
23.8%
57.6%         9,904 
23.9%              35 
78.0%            711 
92.1%            213 
4.2%            535 
51.7%
223
45.7%            211 
27,020
37.7%

30,405
8,435
78,197
6,357
15,925
16,470
48,965
104,800
201,858
150,697
57,344
11,576
29,546
26,141
7,003
517,725
6,493
82,275
8,471
104,692
8,736
12,861
1,534,972

30,633
9,098
79,343
6,957
17,576
16,803
49,360
112,209
203,098
152,073
63,609
11,995
30,495
27,063
7,179
538,181
6,528
88,144
8,707
105,956
9,133
13,072
1,587,212

22,334
7,521
58,382
7,435
14,441
13,126
35,520
96,807
143,789
117,177
48,939
11,039
37,349
21,127
5,991
556,503
5,938
48,840
5,860
75,734
8,142
9,763
1,351,757

8,552
3,281
17,468
3,516
9,558
2,698
7,285
39,338
52,189
62,665
14,805
5,374
30,746
14,395
2,441
368,515
2,554
35,251
5,521
13,179
4,698
4,797
708,826

8,273
2,814
14,096
2,251
9,146
2,707
7,264
35,605
23,109
58,930
10,353
4,229
18,568
12,868
1,666
298,124
1,554
64,171
7,803
4,447
4,513
5,873
598,364

173
804
1,191
136
357
626
328
5,009
4,035
1,522
832
19
236
956
218
10,219
70
739
96
1,024
426
467
29,483

38.3%
43.6%
29.9%
47.3%
66.2%
20.6%
20.5%
40.6%
36.3%
53.5%
30.3%
48.7%
82.3%
68.1%
40.7%
66.2%
43.0%
72.2%
94.2%
17.4%
57.7%
49.1%
51.1%

0.8%
9.6%
2.0%
1.8%
2.4%
4.5%
0.9%
4.9%
2.8%
1.3%
1.6%
0.2%
0.6%
4.3%
3.5%
1.8%
1.2%
1.5%
1.6%
1.3%
4.6%
4.6%
2.1%

C visas 
applied for 
- change 13-
14
-26.5%
-7.5%
-24.9%
11.2%
-14.7%
-18.0%
-27.3%
-9.2%
-28.3%
-21.9%
-15.7%
-1.0%
27.9%
-17.6%
-13.3%
5.4%
-8.0%
-43.9%
-31.6%
-27.3%
2.1%
-21.7%
-12.6%

C visas 
issued - 
change 13-
14
-26.5%
-10.8%
-25.3%
17.0%
-9.3%
-20.3%
-27.5%
-7.6%
-28.8%
-22.2%
-14.7%
-4.6%
26.4%
-19.2%
-14.5%
7.5%
-8.5%
-40.6%
-30.8%
-27.7%
-6.8%
-24.1%
-11.9%  

2.1.3. Irregular migration trends 

Compared  to  nationals  of  Western  Balkans  prior  to  visa  liberalisation,  the  would-be 
labour  migrants  from  Ukraine  have  fewer  incentives  to  engage  in  irregular  border-
crossings. The reason lies in the fact that there are sufficient legal travel channels to enter the 
EU  such  as:  fully  functional  local  border  traffic  agreements  with  neighbouring  Member 
States;  simplified  rules  for  short-term  employment  in  some  Member  States  and  low  single 
visa rejection rates. FRONTEX reports that illegal border-crossing represent a marginal issue 
at  best  (below  150  per  year).  Consequently  it  should  be  considered  as  negligible  given  the 
population size of Ukraine (45 million) and the length of its borders with the EU.    

According  to  Eurostat  data,  12.055  Ukrainian  nationals  had  been  found  to  be  illegally 
present  in  EU  member  States  in  2013.  Poland  was  the  EU  +  Schengen  associated 
countries  where  most  of  the  Ukrainian  illegal  stayers  were  detected  (5210  persons) 
followed by Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic with 1370, 1265 and 890 detections 
respectively.  According  to  EASO,  in  2013,  Ukrainians  were  the  8th  most  common 
citizenship  of  third-country  nationals  detected  illegally  staying  the  EU.  Almost  half  of 
them were identified on exit at the external air and land borders, which means that most of 
these  people  are  voluntarily  returning  home.  Eurostat  data  shows  that  more  than  9500 
Ukrainians found illegally in EU returned to Ukraine in 2014. 

35 

 
 
 
          
 
 
 
 
The  majority  of  Ukrainian  nationals  move  to  the  EU  by  using  regular  travel  channels 
and aim to work and stay in the EU as regular migrants. However, as some of them are 
reluctant to return back home, the risk of the abuse of visas exists. Indeed there are a 
high number of detections of illegal stay of Ukrainian nationals in the EU.  

: 

: 

: 

2013 

2012 

2011 

2010 

2009 

2008 

130 
15 
1,125 
5 
1,095 
35 
15 
100 
840 
375 

10,875
145
10
955
5
1,070
20
35
105
955
290

11,220
150
10
1,500
10
1,155
15
60
150
1,060
355

14,000
115
25
1,545
20
1,325
45
30
85
1,040
555

12,055
135
5
890
5
1,265
45
25
95
380
340
5
570
120
10
75
0
1,370
5

11,880  12,555 
165 
10 
1,065 
0 
1,280 
35 
35 
75 
640 
310 

Table  3:  Third  country  nationals  found  to  be  illegally  present  (annual  data  for 
Ukrainians), 2008-2013  
Member State or Associated 
State 
European Union (28 
countries) 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
Source: Eurostat data last updated 15.10.14, extracted on 25.03.2015. 

690 
180 
5 
90 
0 
1,095 
20 
105 
195 
3,995 
425 
120 
105 
370 
30 
165 
555 

1,460
120
10
125
5
1,605
5
140
230
1,885
470
85
145
365
25
105
510

1,480
120
15
130
0
1,000
10
125
220
2,070
520
105
5
410
25
135
385

795
10
100
280
3,200
1,320
130
15
600
25
5
365
0
0
10

185 
4,800 
480 
75 
20 
335 
40 
105 
640 

190
5,210
280
70
10
355
35
95
480

720 
135 
5 
70 
5 
1,310 
10 

0 : 
0
10 : 
75

2,090
90
35
140

0 
10 
50 

0 
45 
60 

0
25
70

65

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

: 

0

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Refusals of entry at the border 

In 2013, Ukrainians were ranked second after citizens of the Russian Federation in terms of 
nationality refused entry into the EU and first in 20144.  

Considering indicators in Table 4, the number of refused entry of Ukrainian citizens is 17.095 
cases  in  2013,  the  number  of  Ukrainians  refused  entry  into  the  EU  remained  quite  stable 
between 2008 and 2013 at about 17.500 refusals a year.  

In  2013  most  of  these  refusals  (70%)  occurred  at  the  Polish  land  border.  Hungary  and 
Romania  were  the  second  and  third  largest  countries  to  issue  Ukrainians  refusals  of  entry 
(2190 and 1000 refusals, respectively). 

: 

2013 

2012 

18,635
25
185
10
5
135
35
30
60
30
40

Table 4: Ukrainian citizens refused entry at the external borders 2012-2013 
Member State or Associated State 
European Union (28 countries) 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Germany  
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 

17,095
25
130
10
0
150
30
30
55
15
35
220
125
20
65
60
0
2,190
0
50
5
12,060
5
1,000
80
395
25
0
295

60
15
70
55
0
2,985
0
55
0
12,555
5
1,320
125
530
20
0
305

4 According to EASO.   

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
Source: Eurostat data last updated 25.11.2014, extracted on 25.03.2015. 

0
0
25

0
0
25

The  main  reasons  for  refusal  were  no  valid  visa  or  resident  permit.  According  to 
FRONTEX, Ukrainian nationals stand out among other nationalities in terms of use of 
false  documents  to  enter  the  EU  with  981  Ukrainians  identified  using  falsified 
documents  in  2014.  Most  cases  record  counterfeit  border  crossing  stamps  which  are 
used in passports.  

Ukraine was able to keep western border surveillance at a sufficient level despite of the crisis. 
For  example,  even  if  EUBAM  mentions  the  recurrent  lack  of  capacity  building,  there  is  an 
improvement of operational capacities of Ukrainian borders mentioned by EUBAM in general 
and particularly concerning the border between Moldova and Ukraine where EUBAM actions 
take place.   

2.1.4. Visa free regime possible impacts 

The main modus operandi used by Ukrainian would-be migrants in the last several years is to 
overstay the validity of their visa resulting in illegal stay. Eurostat data shows roughly that 
countries  with  the  highest  number  of  detections  correspond  to  the  first  legally  residing 
countries  for  Ukrainian  national.  Therefore,  in  the  framework  of  a  visa  free  regime  the 
number of Ukrainians who overstay the legal limits could increase significantly.  

2.1.5. New challenges following the Ukrainian crisis 

As  the  situation  is  Eastern  Ukraine  deteriorated  there  have  been  increased  movements  of 
people inside of Ukraine. One year after the "Euro Maidan protests" in Ukraine and Russia's 
annexation of Crimea, Ukraine needs to manage the mass exodus of civilians from the regions 
outside  its  control.  The  number  of  internally  displaced  people  exceeded  1.1  million  as  of 
March  20155,  while  over  740.000  fled  to  neighbouring  countries,  of  which  number  almost 
608.000 were seeking legal status in the Russian Federation, and another 100.000 in Belarus. 
from  Eastern  Ukraine  and 
The 
Crimea/Sevastopol  reached  almost  1.2  million  as  of  30  March  2015,  according  to  the 
Ministry of Social policy of Ukraine6. For them, emigration to the EU may be the best option 
in the future if not enough State support with monthly targeted social assistance is provided 
(in  terms  of  social  protection  of  families  and  children,  legal  assistance,  education  and 
employment proposals, pension funds warranty, etc.).  

internally  displaced  persons 

total  number  of 

2.2. Asylum: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

According to Eurostat data asylum applications from Ukrainian citizens are widely distributed 
throughout  Europe,  with  highest  numbers  of  applicants  registered  in  Germany  (2705) 
followed by Poland (2275), Italy (2080), France (1415), Sweden (1320), Spain (895), Czech 
Republic (515), etc. This coincides with the most popular destination countries of Ukrainian 
labour migrants. With the exception of Poland, EU countries neighbouring Ukraine received 

5 According to UNHCR estimates in operational update report, 7 February – 6 March 2015. 
6 Reported in IOM's Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine - monthly report March 2015. 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
very  few  applicants.  The  total  of  asylum  applicants  in  EU  and  Schengen  associated 
countries is 14.400 in 2014.  

: 

: 

: 

: 

2008 
925
65
0
320
5
45
0
20
55
5
75

2009 
935
35
10
200
5
85
0
15
50
10
75

2010 
830
65
5
115
5
70
0
5
50
5
90

2011 
940
75
0
150
20
55
0
10
30
10
100

Table 5: Asylum applicants by citizenship (Ukraine), 2008-2014   
Member State or Associated 
State 
European Union (28 countries) 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
Total 
Source: Eurostat data last updated 20.03.15, extracted on 25.03.2015. 

20
10
0
0
5
10
0
30
80
45
0
10
0
20
10
120
55
0
0
10
15
855

10
25
0
0
0
10
0
20
120
35
5
10
0
15
5
130
65
0
5
25
30
995

20
10
5
0
0
5
0
50
65
65
5
5
5
5
10
190
50
0
0
15
25
980

15
15
0
5
5
0
0
20
140
40
0
0
0
30
10
55

0
0
20
30
975

: 

: 

90 
10 
175 
15 
135 
0 
15 
45 
20 
145 

2012 
2014 
2013 
1,095  1,060  14,040
570
40
515
135
2,705
60
50
110
895
1,415
10
2,080
95
75
70
25
35
40
265
455
2,275
155
35
15
25
300
1,320
275
15
5
130
210
1,165  1,125  14,400

65 
0 
145 
40 
150 
0 
10 
20 
15 
135 
0 
35 
0 
0 
5 
0 
5 
0 
40 
60 
45 
0 
10 
0 
15 
5 
170 
75 
0 
0 
25 
40 

35 
5 
0 
5 
0 
0 
0 
30 
80 
70 
5 
0 
5 
5 
15 
130 
60 
0 
10 
30 
30 

EASO indicates that although a number of factors can influence the choice of the destination 
country,  the  presence  of  an  established  Ukrainian  diaspora  or  previous  experience  in  the 
destination country due to work or study are significant pull factors. Therefore the existence 
of  Ukrainian  residents  seems  to  explain  the  geographical  distribution  of  Ukrainian 
applicants for asylum.  

39 

 
 
 
 
2.2.1. Visa free regime possible impacts 

The majority of Ukrainian migrants have so far preferred using legal migration channels other 
than the asylum procedure (using asylum applications only when in the preferred EU State), 
and the visa free regime may not change radically this trend. Nevertheless EASO mentions 
that  Ukrainian  overstayers  could  lodge  an  application  for  asylum  as  a  way  to  legalise 
their stay after visa validity.  

2.2.2. New challenges following the Ukrainian crisis 

Ukrainians seeking asylum between 2008 and 2013 in the EU Member states and Schengen 
Associated countries were about 1000 applicants a year. Based on Eurostat statistical data, the 
highest number of applications were recorded in 2003 (5100) as well as 2004 (4655) which 
coincides with times of political change in the country. With the ongoing crisis, the number 
of asylum applicants grew substantially.  

Based on FRONTEX indicators and Eurostat data, significant changes in 2014 were recorded 
among number of asylum applications. Ukrainian nationals increasingly claimed asylum in a 
large number of the EU Member States and Schengen Associated countries. There were over 
14.400 applications for asylum by Ukrainian nationals compared to only 1125 in 2013. It 
escalated  during  the  first  10  months  of  2014  with  a  maximum  of  2260  applicants  in 
October 2014.  

Although  the  number  of  asylum  seekers  from  Ukraine  is  still  regarded  as  high,  a  steady 
decreasing trend of submitted asylum claims has been observed since October 2014 as a result 
of  decreased  violence  levels  following  the  signing  of  the  Minsk  agreements  in  September 
2014. The flow of applicants seemed to stabilise in December 2014 - January 2015 at about 
1500 applicants a month. This might be explained by the hopes of peaceful solutions after the 
ceasefire  agreement  in  September  2014.  This  decrease  can  be  as  well  a  consequence  of  the 
recognition rate accounting for total 21% as indicated by EASO and confirmed by Eurostat 
data's hereafter in Table 6 with a total of 650 positive decisions in EU (up to date the 20th of 
March  2015)  in  regard  of  the  2985  applications  of  2014  already  analysed  (and  waiting  for 
other pending cases decisions).  

Table 6: First instance decisions on applications by citizenship (Ukraine), 2012-2014 and 
positive decisions in 2014 

Member State or Associated State 
European Union (28 countries) 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 

2012 

2013 

2014 

855
50
5
160
35
40
0
10
30

2,985
205
0
375
10
60
5
30
85

880
95
0
195
5
40
0
15
30

40 

Positive 
decisions 
in 2014 

650 
5 
0 
150 
0 
20 
0 
5 
5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
80
255
5
245
0
5
30
0
20
20
160

Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
Total 
Source: Eurostat data last updated 20.03.2015, extracted on 25.03.2015 

15
165
0
40
0
0
0
0
0
0
40
45 : 
45
0
5
0
10
15
110
30
0
5
30
30
920

15
120
0
15
5
0
5
0
0
0
35
80
50
5
0
0
5
5
115
45
0
10
20
10
915

655
5
30
10
10
340
180
170
5
0
80
60
3,135

: 

0 
35 
0 
165 
0 
0 
25 
0 
5 
20 
5 

15 
5 
15 
0 
5 
145 
20 
5 
5 
0 
0 
0 
660 

As  the  situation  in  the  Eastern  Ukraine  remains  unstable,  rapid  increases  of  asylum 
applications  at  the  common  borders  cannot  be  ruled  out.  Ukrainian  citizens  and  high 
number of IDPs are facing challenges in terms of proper accommodation, no access to savings 
and uncertain future.  

According  to  EASO,  the  evolution  of  the  political  and  security  situation  in  Ukraine  as 
well  as  the  developments  in  the  conflict  areas  not  under  effective  control  of  the 
Ukrainian authorities in Eastern Ukraine and in Crimea/Sevastopol would appear to be 
the determinant for the influx of persons in need of asylum in the EU since March 2014. 
The situation of the IDPs needs to be further monitored. 

3. ASSESSMENT OF SECURITY IMPACTS 

According  to  Ukrainian  Ministry  for  Economic  Development  and  Trade,  the  level  of  the 
shadow  economy  has  been  between  28%  and  39%  of  Ukraine's  GDP  over  the  last  5  years. 
However,  the  International Monetary  Fund  estimates  that  Ukraine's  underground,  and  non-
tax-paying, economy is reaching 50 % of GDP. The shadow economy reflects active illegal 
economic activities, high level corruption as well as low legal and tax morale of individuals 
and legal entities.  

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.1. Organised crime: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

According to Europol, Ukrainian Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) are active in at least 
23  EU  Member  States:  Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Czech  Republic,  Denmark, 
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, 
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. They are also 
active  in  countries  of  the  EU  neighbourhood  such  as  Moldova,  Norway,  Serbia, 
Switzerland, Russian Federation and Turkey. The increased spread of Ukrainian OCGs in the 
EU shows a trend toward the widening international dimension of these OCGs. Moreover 
they  tend  to  be  structured  as  small  to  medium  sized  semi-independent  cells  with  links  to 
broader networks.   

Recent  data  on  OCGs  inside  Ukraine  is  limited  due  to  the  current  political  situation  which 
impedes  data  collection.  Nevertheless,  according  to  available  resources  show  that  the 
Donetsk,  Crimea  and  Odessa  regions  have  the  highest  criminality  rates.  The  Donbas  region 
which includes Donetsk and Luhansk is the historical industrial heart of Ukraine but also the 
region  with  the  highest  level  of  unemployment  and  criminality,  which  has  been  increasing 
since the 1990s.   

The current crisis in Ukraine has the potential to increase the links between Ukrainian 
OCGs and Russian-Speaking OCGs, like for example Chechen or Georgian groups. The 
potential  increase  of  Russian-speaking  groups  into  Ukraine  could  not  only  lead  to  the 
formation  of  powerful  partnerships  but  also  to  potential  power  struggles  between  Ukrainian 
groups and Eurasian newcomers looking for new business prospects.   

Russian speaking OCGs (including Ukrainians) invest mainly in construction, transportation 
and  logistics,  real  estate,  wholesale  and  retail  trade,  hotels,  bars  and  restaurants.  Their 
activities in the legal economy are often related to schemes to launder the proceeds of their 
criminal activities7. 
Moreover,  Ukrainian  motorcycle  gangs  are  present  in  some  EU  MS  and  are  known  to  use 
violence as an integral part of their business strategy. Outlaw Motor Cycle Gang members 
adopt a multi-crime approach. One of the main Russian motorcycle gangs, the Night Wolves, 
is  present  in  Ukraine  through  nine  groups,  including  in  Crimea.  In  recent  years  they  have 
expanded  their  activities  in  the  Balkans  and  actively  participate  in  the  Ukrainian  conflict 
alongside pro-Russian paramilitary personnel.  

Visa  liberalisation  for  EU  may  open  up  new  opportunities  for  Ukrainian  (or  Ukraine 
based)  OCGs  as  they  will  be  able  to  carry  out  their  activities  and  investments  in  a  less 
controlled  environment,  at  least  for  the  visa  perspective,  with  flexibility  and  adaptability  in 
their methods of activities in new conditions.  

The  ongoing  conflict  will  continue  to  have  a  significant  impact  on  the  capacity  of 
Ukraine  to  manage  its  borders,  controlling  flow  of  people  and  goods  in  and  out  of  the 
country.  

7 Transcrime study "From illegal markets to legitimate businesses: The portfolio of organised crime in Europe" 
(published in March 2015 and available on DG HOME's website). 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
According to Ukrainian Ministry of foreign affairs data during the first quarter of 2015:  

•  over 840.000 people and 293.000 units of vehicles were allowed to pass through entry 
and exit checkpoints in the security area along the contact line in eastern Ukraine  

•  81 persons were denied the crossing of the contact line. 
•  93 persons suspected of criminal acts were detained (at entry and exit checkpoints – 

73, beyond entry and exit checkpoints – 20). 

•  24  units  of  weapons,  2600  thousand  items  of  ammunition,  including  18  hand-held 
anti-tank grenade launchers, 44 grenades, 0,2 kg of explosive agent, were detected and 
confiscated. 
Illegal movement through the line of contact of 9600 tons of coal, 282 tons of scrap 
metal,  800  tons  of  fuel  and  lubricants,  28.000  packs  of  cigarettes,  75.000  litres  of 
alcoholic  beverages,  1800  tons  of  food  products,  3100  tons  of   agricultural  products 
was prevented. 

• 

3.2. Trafficking in human beings: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

Ukraine  is  a  country  of  origin,  transit  and  increasingly  a  destination  for  trafficking  in  men, 
women and children. Over 120.000 Ukrainians became victims of trafficking in human beings 
since  1991,  which  makes  Ukraine  one  of  the  largest  countries  of  origin  of  trafficking  in 
human beings in Europe. 

Even  if  the  Russian  Federation  remained  the  top  destination  country  for  trafficking  from 
Ukraine, EU is the second largest destination. Ukraine is a source and transit country for 
THB  victims  coming  from  other  Eastern  European  countries  (Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Czech 
Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia) toward Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, 
the  Netherlands)  the  Baltic  States  and  Russia.  Most  victims  are  used  for  forced  labour  and 
sexual exploitation in EU countries. Ukrainian OCGs involved in THB use residency permits 
or legal businesses owned in EU MS to issue invitation letters for visas. Even though there is 
not  enough  reliable  information  regarding  the  impact  of  Ukrainian  crisis  on  THB  it  can  be 
assumed that OCGs will take it as an opportunity in the lack of regulation and the increased 
number of vulnerable people.  

The  increased  freedom  of  movement  through  visa-free  regime  is  likely  lead  to  an 
increase of trafficking of human beings from Ukraine to the EU MS. 

There is also concern that the Ukraine may have additional risks to an increase in the scale of 
trafficking of human beings due to the high numbers of persons fleeing from the temporary 
uncontrolled  territories.  The  displaced  population  is  deemed  to  be  very  vulnerable  to 
intermediaries, recruiting victims of trafficking. IOM conducts regular monitoring through 
press  reviews,  and  discussions  with  internally  placed  persons,  and  identifies  the  following 
trends: kidnapping of women and girls who are then subjected to sexual exploitation and/or 
forced labour; forced recruitment of men and boys into the militant group for exploitation in 
armed conflict and forced labour, labour exploitation of detainees by anti-government forces, 
sex trafficking and an increase in the scale of child begging.   

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
3.3. Facilitation of illegal immigration: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

One characteristic of Ukrainian OCGs involved in the facilitation of irregular migration is the 
use of stolen, forged and counterfeit identity documents to facilitate the travel of irregular 
migrants. Fraudulent passports and visas are most commonly from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, 
Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. In some cases Ukrainian nationals with a 
residence permit or dual nationality in an EU MS have been known to facilitate the travel of 
migrants by issuing invitation for work. False visa stickers for EU MS and the Schengen 
area  are  produced  in  Ukraine  factories.  Ukrainian  OCGs  use  several  types  of  transport 
including  private  cars,  taxis,  minibuses  and  trains.  The  deliberate  use  of  multiple  means  of 
transportation across several routes is an effective countermeasure to evade law enforcement 
controls.  

The crisis in Syria has significantly changed the structure and composition of migratory flows 
in  the  region,  with  an  increased  number  of  migrants  from  Afghanistan,  Iraq,  Iran,  Pakistan 
and  Syria.  Regarding  Asylum,  Ukrainian  ministry  of  foreign  affairs  data  shows  that  in 
2014 the majority of asylum applicants in Ukraine were Afghans (275) and Syrian (267). 
In  2014  applications  of  1173  persons  were  processed  by  the  Ukrainian  State  Migration 
Service  out  of  which  105  were  granted  the  status  of  refugee  and  222  were  recognised  as 
persons in need of subsidiary protection. Regarding irregular migration, in total in 2014, 
3135  irregular  migrants  were  detected,  and  during  the  first  quarter  of  2015,  State 
Migration  Service  reports  that  1420  irregular  migrants  were  detected  (regarding  1159 
foreigners decisions were taken on forced expulsion, regarding 51 foreigners decisions were 
taken on deportation, 28 foreigners were placed to the centers of temporary stay of foreigners, 
168 foreigners were restricted entry to Ukraine for 3 years, duration of stay was reduced for 
82 foreigners).  

Indeed,  the  conflict  in  Ukraine  could  make  this  border  region  more  attractive  to 
migrants  from  Eastern  European,  central  Asian  and  ex-USSR  countries  as  a  transit 
country. Indeed, Ukrainian OCGs are actively involved in the smuggling of Syrians into the 
EU,  though  there  is  no  evidence  of  an  organised  network.  In  most  known  cases  Syrian 
nationals  were  travelling  by  car  through  Italy  and  did  not  possess  identification  documents. 
Destinations were Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.  

Therefore  the  increased  freedom  of  movement  of  Ukrainian  OCGs  could  develop  the 
smuggling of illegal immigration toward Europe. 

3.4. Arms and drug trafficking: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

There  is  no  evidence  available  to  suggest  that  Ukrainian  OCGs  are  involved  in  arms 
trafficking  within  the  EU  but  the  possible  proliferation  of  weapons  in  Ukraine  could  feed 
violent OCGs and be smuggled into EU MS.  

Regarding drugs, EUROPOL mentions that Ukraine is an important hub for drug smuggling 
for  heroin  and  cannabis.  In  the  context  of  a  destabilised  Ukraine,  drug  trafficking  OCGs 
could  seize  the  opportunity  to  use  the  Northern  route  from  Afghanistan  to  Western  Europe 
through Iran, Turkey, Ukraine and Romania.  

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As  a  result,  a  visa-free  regime  may  increase  the  development  of  the  drug  flows  and 
reduce  the  probability  of  detection  especially  in  case  of  rail  or  air  travel.  OCGs  might 
take advantage of people travelling from Ukraine to the EU by relying on drug couriers.  

3.5. Excise fraud: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

Ukraine is a country of origin of the production of cheap cigarettes and their export to the 
EU. According to EUROPOL Ukraine plays a central role in supplying the EU markets 
with  counterfeit  tobacco  products.  Smuggling  operations  are  jointly  conducted  with  other 
OCGs  groups  in  Lithuanian,  Poland,  Russia,  Slovakia  and  Slovenia.  Main  modi  operandi 
include transport by car or plane of cigarettes from Ukraine first to central European countries 
(Austria,  Hungary,  Poland,  Romania)  following  by  western  or  north  European  markets 
(France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden). 

3.6. Property crime: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

Data  available  suggests  that  Ukrainian  OCGs  involved  in  motor  vehicle  crime  are 
cooperating with Lithuanian, Moldovan and Russian networks, notably in Ukraine's southern 
border area. Other nationals involved in this crime area include Bulgarians and Belarusians. 
Ukrainian OCGs are also active in northern European countries for smuggling large amounts 
of stolen goods through central European countries which could be developed in case of visa-
free regime agreement.  

The  visa  free-regime  for  EU  could  reinforce  this  trend  of  internationalisation  of 
Ukrainian OCGs.  

3.7. Financial crime: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

Ukraine is victim to several types of financial crime.  Due to its less robust banking system, 
Ukraine is a destination for money laundering activities, for which predicate offenses include 
grand larceny, illegal gambling, abuse of online banking, VAT fraud, etc. Money laundering 
is carried out by the groups responsible for the predicate offence in an integrated manner. No 
specialised  OCGs  providing  money  laundering  services  has  been  detected,  but  Ukrainian 
nationals  with  EU  residency  permits  are  also  involved  in  money  laundering  activities, 
therefore the visa free-regime for EU could reinforce this trend.   

3.8. Terrorism financing: trends and possible impacts of a visa-free travel 

There  is  no  information  available  regarding  either  the  presence  of  terrorism  financing 
activities  or  foreign  terrorist  fighters  from  the  EU  or  abroad  in  Ukraine,  or  the  transit  of 
foreign  terrorist  fighters  through  Ukraine  to  conflict  zones  such  as  Syria  and  Iraq.  The 
preferred route for foreign terrorist fighters from the EU to reach conflict areas goes through 
central European countries to Turkey. However, increased law enforcement controls on these 
routes make a travel more difficult for foreign terrorist fighters.  

As a result, alternate routes may come into consideration by OCGs and there is concern that 
Ukraine  may  be  used  as  an  indirect  route  to  Middle-Eastern  conflict  zones.  Some 
evidence  suggests  that  Ukrainian  OCGs  are  already  involved  in  the  smuggling  of  Syrian 
citizens  in  to  the  EU  and  it  is  therefore  possible  to  assume  that  the  irregular  migration 
channels can be also used to facilitate the movement of foreign terrorist fighters. 

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. MAIN CONCLUSIONS SUMMARY IN CASE OF VISA FREE-REGIME  

The  data  and  information  available  give  prospective  main  trends  in  migration  and  security 
areas, showing that EU is an attractive destination for migrants from Ukraine and that there 
are security challenges to be monitored. 

4.1. Key possible impacts on migration trends 

a)  Visa  liberalisation  for  Ukraine  will  reduce  the  barriers  and  costs  associated  with 
travelling  to  the  EU,  which  will  lead  to  changes  in  the  type  of  smuggling  services 
needed,  from  facilitation  of  illegal  entry  to  attempting  legalisation  of  stay  after 
overstaying.  

b)  Given the current economic situation in Ukraine, EU Member States currently are an 
attractive  option  for  labour  migrants  from  Ukraine.  Likewise,  the  demand  for 
residency and domestic work will likely increase.  

c)  With  16%  of  the  population  aged  under  15  in  2013,  Ukraine  will  have  to  provide 
inclusive economic opportunities in the near future to avoid large emigration flows. 
d)  Visa  liberalisation  could  be  abused  to  apply  for  asylum  in  EU  Member  states  by 

Ukrainian nationals as a way to legalise their overstay. 

e)  As  the  situation  in  the  eastern  Ukraine  remains  unstable,  EU  Member  States  will 
remain  an  option  for  asylum  seekers.  Rapid  increases  of  asylum  applications  at  the 
common borders cannot be ruled out in terms of new important armed conflict.  

f)  The challenges of IDPs in a long term perspective may also result in an increased flow 
of  Ukrainians  for  which  emigration  to  the  EU  might  be  the  best  option  in  the  near 
future. 

4.2. Key possible impacts on security trends 

a)  The increased spread of Ukrainian organised crime in the EU shows a trend toward the 
internationalisation  of  Ukrainian  OCGs.  Visa  liberalisation  in  Ukraine  may  facilitate 
criminal  activities  carried  out  by  Ukrainian  OCGs  and  their  partners,  especially 
regarding trafficking in human beings and goods from Ukraine to EU Member States.  
b)  Ukraine  is  a  growing  platform  for  drug  trafficking  (heroin,  cannabis)  and  plays  a 

central role in supplying EU markets with counterfeit tobacco products. 

c)  The market for OCGs facilitating the irregular migration of Ukrainian nationals to the 
EU will probably decrease, compelling OCGs to seek new opportunities. For example 
for  smugglers  dealing  with  irregular  migrants  from  neighbourhood  countries  in 
Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia or Middle-East, providing them with stolen or 
counterfeit Ukrainian passports. 

d)  Ukraine is not able to control parts of its eastern borders due to the ongoing conflict. 
There  are  serious  concerns  regarding  the  security  situation  and  trafficking  of  human 
beings, smuggling of people and goods.  

e)  Ukrainian OCGs are already present in several EU Member States, and it is likely that 
the current destabilisation of eastern Ukraine has the potential to lead the significant 
growth  of  Ukrainian  and  other  Russian-speaking  OCGs  activities  in  the  region,  thus 
posing a considerable threat to the EU.  

f)  Based on the Minsk Package of 12 February 2015, Ukraine should re-establish control 
of the border by the end of 2015. In order to counter security threats, Ukraine aims to 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
develop  border  infrastructure  at  the  border  with  Russia.  This  will  hopefully  help  to 
address the above mentioned concerns regarding the security situation and trafficking 
in human beings, smuggling of people and goods.  

47