Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Proposes Blockchain to Counter Corruption

Yulia Tymoshenko, former prime minister of Ukraine, is currently on a campaign for her March 2019 elections. In a bid to solidify her persona as a potent force against corruption, Yulia has proposed adoption and implementation of blockchain technology to counter corruption.

The views of former prime minister came into the public domain through a Facebook post dated 9 December. FB post is dedicated to International Anti-corruption day, where she showed concerns over the state’s current corruption woes. The post also mentions her party’s constant efforts to weed out deep-rooted bribery problems.

How Would Blockchain Help Government to Counter Corruption?

The former president believes blockchain would play a central role in countering hierarchical issues like corruption. It is a useful tool for public administration. Yulia also suggested the use of blockchain to store state registers as a measure to avoid tampering and authority over the data.

Yulia Tymoshenko believes the judiciary and law should be above individuals or political parties. She urged for the protection of the country’s courts against powerful politicians, and sue anyone who accepts the bribe. These petty things at individual level make the whole system hollow from within and weaker by the day.

This was not the very first time when Yulia has marched for blockchain implementation and adoption in governance. During a forum in Kiev last June, she put out a presentation emphasizing on the need of blockchain adoption.

An excerpt from the presentation,

“Blockchain is a perfect anti-corruption technology, which is proven by international practice. In order to completely eliminate corruption in public registries and to protect each citizen’s personal data, we have to transfer all administration systems to the blockchain.”

A little background on Yulia Tymoshenko’s political career

Yulia came to power for the first time in 2005 as the prime minister of Ukraine and got elected for the second term in 2007 where she graced the office till early 2010. She recently announced her candidacy for President of Ukraine in the 2019 elections.

Yulia is not among the first to voice out her support for blockchain adoption. Earlier in August Ukrainian Electoral Commission tried out a decentralized voting pilot with the help of 28 nodes on NEM blockchain. The head of the state register has said that they are continuing a series of experiments to see its use and advantages in the public electoral voting system. To promote the use of digital money a bill was passed which states; there won’t be any taxation on cryptos until 2030

As reported by BTC Wires, the state is also looking into the issuance of state-owned crypto e-hryvnia, which would hold its value against the national fiat currency. The new proposal is aimed at increasing the use of digital money and reduce the charges incurred on centralized systems. The government has also taken measures to legalize cryptocurrencies by 2021.

Final Thoughts

The measures put in place by the Ukrainian government and the urge from the presidential candidate Yulia, are an excellent sign for Blockchain technology in the coming future. Ukraine, even though a relatively smaller state, has seen the advantages of a new technology beyond the hype and Bearish trend of the crypto world. Other institutions and countries must look up to or try to implement such measures by starting at a small level. These measures would surely propagate or at least clear the negative stigma around the technology in certain sections of the society.