On Thursday 12 November 2015 Basel Institute on Governance Managing Director Gretta Fenner met with Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to take stock of the cooperation between the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) and the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) to recover assets stolen by former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and his close allies. Both parties recognised the challenges of asset recovery, and the particular challenges of asset recovery in the Ukrainian context. Both parties re-confirmed their continued commitment to cooperate in this endeavour.

The meeting, which took place at the PGO headquarters in Kyiv, allowed to discuss some important advances made recently, notably in relation to international cooperation. The meeting recognised the importance of continuing to work closely with concerned foreign jurisdictions, some of which have provided Ukraine PGO with highly valuable information.

At the same time, the meeting also noted the delays in and thus the continued importance of swiftly progressing domestic investigations, which are at the centre of any asset recovery process. In this regard, and in view of the high level of interconnectedness of the concerned crimes, Mr Shokin and Ms Fenner agreed that further efforts have to go into ensuring that domestic investigations are joined up and coordinated. The PGO, which is operating in a particularly challenging environment, has considerable capacity constraints; in order to effectively advance the investigations into the financial crimes committed by the regime of former President Yanukovych, the PGO needs to consider ways to more effectively prioritise these cases.

In this context, and in view of the highly international nature of most of the cases at stake, Ms Fenner noted the critical importance of close cooperation between different departments within the PGO, notably between the International Department and the Main Investigative Department, and the need to ensure that these departments are led by individuals who have demonstrated and are publicly recognised for their strong reform orientation and dedication to the country’s anti-corruption drive.

The PGO and ICAR agreed to jointly establish a detailed protocol of cooperation in order to ensure the continued efficiency and effectiveness of their cooperation.