Corruption and the absence of the rule of law in Ukraine are serious problems for potential foreign investors, stated the Swiss Ambassador to Ukraine and Moldova, Guillaume Scheurer, during his interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Corruption is an issue. It is a fact that there is no respect for the rule of law. These are the two elements that make many businessmen somehow uncertain about coming to Ukraine. They are ready to deal with competition, business issues and production problems, but not with these two issues where they have little opportunity to interact positively. And they dislike this, because they are in the hands of local authorities, or judges, or inspectors, or anyone else," the Ambassador said.

According to him, "the priority would be to protect the companies in Ukraine, and then you will attract some new companies."

Scheurer noted that he had repeatedly heard from the representatives of Swiss companies in Ukraine about the cases of direct and indirect corruption. He added that Swiss companies are not alone in facing such problems; Ukrainian companies face them as well.

"One company invests hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the other company invests five dollars. The playing field is not even. As a result, one company is given—and this is indirect corruption—an opportunity to reduce prices because they probably pay the fire inspector to avoid having to install a proper fire-safety system. And that’s what I heard from the companies," the Ambassador stated.

In September last year, President Petro Poroshenko declared that Ukrainian law enforcement officers had started hunting for corrupt officials. In November, Danish Ambassador Ruben Madsen stated that corruption still remained a serious challenge to Ukraine and stressed the importance of combating this problem.

  Switzerland, corruption in Ukraine

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