Whistleblower Protection in Ukraine: Challenges and Key Priorities

On November 5, LI’s legal director, George Sandul, spoke at the 5th annual Whistleblower Conference, organized by ACREC (Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre) and NAZK (the National Agency for Preventing Corruption).

Prominent domestic and international NGOs, Members of Parliament, international and national experts in whistleblower protection, NAZK representatives, compliance officers, and whistleblowers themselves attended the conference.

Amid the full-scale invasion, protecting whistleblowers in the security and defense sector has become one of the key conference topics. Priorities for all stakeholders include releasing whistleblowers from liability when they disclose restricted information, regulating reward payments, and establishing secure channels for reporting. These measures aim to foster a strong whistleblowing culture in Ukraine.

During the panel session on the effectiveness of anticorruption agencies and legal protections for whistleblowers, George Sandul discussed the challenges faced by whistleblowers in the workplace, provided an overview of case studies from the LI legal clinic on whistleblowers’ labor violations, and stressed the importance of trade union mechanisms for their protection.

He emphasized the role of unions and the freedom of association in fighting corruption. George noted that labor safeguards against retaliation are the initial barrier every whistleblower encounters when exposing corrupt wrongdoing. Labor Initiatives has worked with trade unionists and anti-corruption activists for many years, to emphasize the central role workers have in reporting corruption—and the related need to protect them.