On April 1, at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, a Ukrainian session was held to present the updated OECD Review of the Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Ukraine. The session was part of the 46th meeting of the OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices.
During the session, the OECD announced its decision regarding Ukraine’s adherence to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises — a milestone Ukraine has been working toward since 2021.
«We have been moving toward this goal for five years, working persistently and side-by-side with our international partners on the reform of state-owned enterprise corporate governance. Today is a significant day that allows us to take pride in the results, but it is also a powerful motivation for us to keep moving forward and continue aligning corporate governance in Ukraine with international best practices. Nevertheless, the OECD's decision on Ukraine’s adherence to the Guidelines is a testament to the progress we have already achieved, and we are grateful to our partners for this high recognition», – noted Oleksii Sobolev, Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
The OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises are the leading international standard for corporate governance in the state sector. Their objectives include:
- Professionalizing the state as an owner;
- Ensuring that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operate with the same level of efficiency, transparency, integrity, and accountability as private companies;
- Implementing competitive neutrality to establish a level playing field for both state-owned and private companies;
- Promoting sustainable development, stability, and the long-term increase in capitalization of state-owned enterprises.
«Ukraine’s adherence to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance is of paramount importance to us, as this decision signifies that international partners recognize the high quality of corporate governance in Ukraine. Over the past five years, we have worked actively to reach this level. In particular, we have already achieved a vital result — unifying key rules for managing state companies within the State Ownership Policy and introducing transparent and competitive selection for supervisory boards. This is a difficult path with many challenges, but we are grateful for this significant recognition of our progress», – emphasized Anna Artemenko, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
Overall, based on the findings of the presented review, partners praised the progress of Ukraine’s SOE corporate governance reform and provided recommendations for the further implementation of OECD standards. This document marks the first comprehensive review of the reform's status since 2021.