ASSESSMENT OF POSITIONS WITH ELEVATED CORRUPTION RISKS: EXPERIENCE OF UKRAINE AND NATO MEMBER STATES
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Keywords

corruption risk
position assessment
public service
NACP
NATO Building Integrity Programme
GRECO
OECD
functional analysis

How to Cite

Kurylina, O., Sharapaniuk, A., & Kuvshynova, A. (2026). ASSESSMENT OF POSITIONS WITH ELEVATED CORRUPTION RISKS: EXPERIENCE OF UKRAINE AND NATO MEMBER STATES. Social Development: Economic and Legal Issues, (14). https://doi.org/10.70651/3083-6018/2026.2.08

Abstract

The assessment of positions with elevated corruption risks is a central instrument of preventive anti-corruption policy: it enables the concentration of administrative resources on functionally vulnerable positions without relying on subjective reputational judgments. For Ukraine, which is pursuing Euro-Atlantic integration under conditions of armed aggression, this issue carries dual strategic significance, as the quality of anti-corruption mechanisms directly affects both the effective use of defense resources and the fulfilment of EU and NATO membership conditions. The purpose of the article is a comparative legal analysis of the methodologies for assessing corruption-vulnerable positions in Ukraine and NATO member states in order to identify systemic patterns and formulate evidence-based recommendations. Results. Five systemic patterns of effective assessment models were identified: the primacy of the functional approach over the personal (corruption risk is a property of the position, not the person); differentiation of legal consequences according to the functional risk profile; digitalization and automated monitoring of behavioral risk indicators; external independent verification as a mandatory condition for overcoming formalism; and dynamic updating of registers based on normatively established review cycles. Three key systemic deficiencies of Ukrainian practice were established: the prevalence of a structural-functional approach without adequate consideration of the personal integrity dimension; persistent formalism in the reporting of authorized anti-corruption units; and the existence of monitoring blind spots due to the absence of automated inter-registry interaction. To improve the national model, the article proposes to legislatively consolidate the principle of functional priority, introduce a three-tier differentiation of legal consequences, establish a mandatory biennial review cycle, ensure technological modernization through inter-registry integration, and institutionally entrench a preventive audit mechanism led by the NACP.

https://doi.org/10.70651/3083-6018/2026.2.08
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Copyright (c) 2026 Oksana Kurylina, Alona Sharapaniuk, Anastasiia Kuvshynova