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Organized Economic Crime and Corruption in Ukraine: The Problem of Countermeasures

NCJ Number
200270
Journal
Trends in Organized Crime Volume: 6 Issue: 3/4 Dated: Spring/Summer 2001 Pages: 68-76
Author(s)
Alexander G. Kalman
Date Published
2001
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper assesses the capacities of the political, economic, legal, and criminal justice institutions of Ukraine to counter the organized economic crime and corruption in that country.
Abstract
The collapse of communism in Ukraine provided the kind of unstructured economic and political environment needed by organized criminal groups to expand their economic criminal activities by infiltrating all aspects of public and economic administration. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are swamped by the magnitude and pervasiveness of economic crime. The state machinery for regulating and controlling industry and commerce is essentially controlled by organized crime through bribes and a weak system of accountability. Overall, organized economic crime has benefited from the chaos and loss of government control due to recent economic reforms in Ukraine. This paper examines the following five factors that have contributed to Ukraine's systemic criminal economic activity: political, economic, administrative and organizational, social and psychological, legal and law enforcement. These are also the key areas where countermeasures must be developed and applied if effective reforms are to occur. Suggestions are offered for how policies and practices in these five areas of Ukrainian society can be reformed to mount effective countermeasures against economic crime. 12 references