Title: UNODC Boosts Ukraine’s Capacity to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing

Challenge of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in Ukraine

In the ongoing war against financial crimes, Ukraine confronts significant challenges in the form of money laundering and terrorism financing. Effective measures to address these issues are crucial for the country’s economic recovery and long-term stability. This article highlights UNODC’s efforts to support Ukraine in enhancing its capacity to investigate and prosecute money laundering offenses.

According to the 2022 National Risk Assessment, key concerns for Ukraine’s financial system include:

Money laundering in the context of military aggression
Laundering through virtual assets or remote services
Illegal financial flows from Ukraine

UNODC Partners with Ukraine for Strengthening Capacities

To address these challenges, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) initiated a project titled ‘Support for the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine (SFMS) and Ukrainian authorities’. Funded by the German government, this project aims to strengthen national competent authorities in money laundering investigations.

Phase One: Training and Capacity Building

In the first phase between 2023 and early 2024, UNODC provided support to SFMS by developing training materials on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), beneficial ownership (BO), financial investigation (FI), and Trade-based Money Laundering (TBML). These materials were delivered to the SFMS Academy and national trainers, preparing them for inter-agency training sessions.

Phase Two: Equipment and Software Support

In the second phase, which commenced in April 2024, UNODC in Ukraine is providing software licenses to support anti-money laundering investigations and equipping the Academy of Financial Monitoring with technical equipment and IT systems. This will enable trainers to effectively deliver the training developed in the first phase.

Contribution to International Compliance and SDGs

Money laundering and the underlying crimes can pose serious threats to a country’s financial sector and external stability. Through this project, UNODC partners with the Ukrainian government to implement policies, measures, and tools to prevent and combat financial crime and protect the national financial system.

The efforts made as part of this project contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 16.4), which call for the reduction of illicit financial and arms flows, the recovery and restitution of stolen assets, and the combating of all forms of organized crime.

Collaboration with International Organizations

To ensure international compliance, Ukraine’s anti-money laundering architecture is being strengthened, incorporating the European Union’s AML Guidelines and standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and MONEYVAL. UNODC collaborates closely with various organizations to streamline capacity building exercises and promote synergies in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.

Some of the key organizations include:

European Union
OSCE
IMF
Council of Europe
Basel Institute on Governance
World Bank
FATF
MONEYVAL

Invaluable Role of FATF and MONEYVAL

FATF, the global network that sets anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards, plays an invaluable role in the global mission against money laundering and terrorist financing. Their active participation is essential for the effective implementation of measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing around the world.

Similarly, MONEYVAL, the permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe, assesses countries’ compliance with international anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards and provides recommendations for improvement.