This pilot report showcases trends, achievements, challenges and good practices in anti-corruption strategic frameworks and business integrity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Analysing data from 21 of the 24 countries in the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN), the report finds that countries have adopted anti-corruption strategies and somewhat increased co-operation with civil society in developing and monitoring their implementation. However, challenges remain, such as the low levels of implementation, the lack of a risk-based approach in setting anti-corruption goals, and the absence of impact indicator-based evaluation of anti-corruption strategies. A significant gap in business integrity data points to limited enforcement or tracking business integrity measures.
While there is a growing integration of evidence-based analysis and diagnostic tools in strategic frameworks, only two countries have applied a risk-based approach to setting anti-corruption goals and objectives. The use of diverse data sources, including international indices and administrative data, has increased. Yet, reliance on business, employee, and household surveys remains limited. Anti-corruption strategies predominantly focus on prevention, awareness, and education, with less emphasis on strengthening the detection and prosecution of corruption offences as strategic objectives. Stakeholder engagement in the consultation processes has become an important element of policy development; however, further efforts are needed to ensure that consultations are meaningful and inclusive of diverse perspectives. Monitoring policy implementation has been a common trend; however, with only half of the assessed countries using outcome indicators and consulting with civil society, this is a missed opportunity for the identification of implementation gaps and enhancing the credibility of anti-corruption efforts. Evaluating the effectiveness and impact of feeding into new anti-corruption strategies has not yet become common.
Only a third of the reviewed countries have established corporate governance frameworks requiring company boards to oversee corruption risk management, and only three countries enforced this requirement in practice. Legal provisions designed to ensure the integrity of SOE governing structures through transparency of the selection of their board members and chief executives, as well as the inclusion of independent members in their boards, remain relatively uncommon. While most countries have legal provisions on the disclosure of company beneficial ownership information at the time of registration, less than a third verify their accuracy or apply sanctions for violations of disclosure rules. Most reviewed countries have implemented awareness-raising activities on business integrity, but less than half of them have assisted companies in developing internal anti-corruption measures. Dedicated public institutions such as a business ombudsman for protecting companies’ rights currently exist in only three reviewed countries. These institutions have similar mandates, which include reviewing individual complaints from private entities concerning violations of their rights by administrative bodies and analysing systemic problems concerning business environments in their respective countries to develop policy recommendations.