Abstract/Summary

Although Ukraine is a unitary state, its various regions have experienced different historical trajectories and now retain distinctive identities. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has become markedly diverse, particularly in its socio-political and institutional development. The country identifies itself with the West and aspires to integration with Euro-Atlantic structures. Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the greatest domestic obstacle to Ukraine’s progress was widely acknowledged to be corruption. International media and NGOs often ranked Ukraine among the most corrupt countries in Europe. However, such assessments typically focused on national-level corruption and seldom explored subnational patterns in detail. The primary objective of this dissertation is to determine whether corruption in Ukraine is evenly distributed across its territory. Should disparities be found, the study investigates their underlying causes and mechanisms. The hypothesis posits that the tenure of local politicians significantly affects corruption levels by fostering clientelist ties with regional business networks. Given the intangible nature of corruption, the analysis employs proxy indicators – observable and measurable phenomena that often accompany corrupt practices. The procurement sector, the largest domain of responsibility for local authorities, is used as the empirical field for testing. At the subnational level, two executive bodies exist: the elected local council and the centrally appointed governor. The correlation analysis reveals that higher corruption risks are associated with local councils rather than governors. This finding is explored in depth. The principal conclusion of the study is that the core issue lies not in regional variation per se – although such variation exists – but in the proximity of public institutions to citizens. Elected institutions, being closer to local society, appear more susceptible to corruption. Understanding the sources of such risk at the regional level can thus provide meaningful guidance for national efforts to combat corruption more effectively.