Peter Bartlett, MinterEllison Partner and Chair of the International Bar Association's (IBA's) Legal Practice Division, has helped to develop a special taskforce to support Ukraine. The taskforce will help Ukraine address and avoid common pitfalls countries make around corruption or poor compliance during the reconstruction process following war or natural disasters.

"Jurisdictions trying to rebuild after devastation often do not receive resources intended for them due to corruption and poor compliance controls," Mr Bartlett explained. "This taskforce will bring the global legal community together to help support our Ukrainian partners once reconstruction begins."
The taskforce came about following a speech by Serhiy Derkach, Head of Corruption Prevention and Detection Department at the National Agency on Corruption Prevention of Ukraine. "Ukraine has recognised the potential for huge corruption that will threaten the country’s development and post-war reconstruction," he said.

After the speech Mr Derkach met with Mr Bartlett and expressed his concerns for the corruption risks facing Ukraine in the future, with billions of Euros likely to flow into the country for reconstruction. They discussed how the IBA could potentially assist.

Mr Bartlett suggested a special task force and secured the support of the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee, the OECD and the IBA Leadership.
According to the IBA, the taskforce is preparing online training in areas including anti-corruption, whistleblowing, responsible business conduct, conflicts of interest, risk assessments, and the role of compliance officers.

The IBA is known as the global voice of the legal profession and is made up of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies.