At its plenary session on November 10, 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the second reading and as a whole the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, and the Law of Ukraine 'On Prevention of Corruption' in Connection with Ukraine's Accession to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions” (Reg. No. 15056).
The Law is substantively linked to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Ukraine's Accession to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions” dated March 10, 2026, No. 4811-IX.
The purpose of the Law is to align national legislation with the provisions of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions to ensure its proper implementation.
To achieve this goal, it is proposed to amend the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, and the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention of Corruption”, in particular:
to align the definition of the term “foreign public official” with the terminology of the Convention;
to harmonize the provisions of criminal legislation regarding the application of criminal law measures to legal successors of legal entities;
to establish that during the pre-trial investigation, rulings of an investigating judge on the application of restrictions on the activities of a legal entity, or on the refusal to apply such restrictions, may be appealed in the appellate procedure;
to provide that authorized persons of a legal entity—namely natural persons who, pursuant to the law, founding documents of the legal entity, contract, instructions, or other oral or written permissions, have the right to act on behalf of the legal entity or represent its interests—are obliged to take anti-corruption measures.
Thus, the provisions of the Law are directly aimed at implementing the relevant mandates of the Convention into the national legislation of Ukraine, specifically regarding the criminalization of bribery of foreign public officials, the liability of legal entities, and the introduction of additional anti-corruption mechanisms.