Unlocking Public Data: A Guide to Investigating Officials in Ukraine

The Odesa Center for Public Investigations has prepared useful information for readers on how every citizen can legally and without spending too much time and effort find out important information about the activities of officials and businesses

This year, Ukraine was ranked 24th in the Global Open Data Index, ahead of Poland, Austria, Italy, Belgium, and the Russian Federation. Compared to last year, Ukraine has risen by 30 points.

According to government officials, this progress was made possible by the introduction of a single open data portal and accession to the international Open Data Charter. The openness of government data was measured in various areas, such as the state budget, statistics, legislation, and so on. For example, we are doing well with data from state registers, but not so well with openness of information on water or air quality.

The Odesa Center for Public Investigations has prepared useful information for readers on how every citizen can legally and without spending too much time and effort find out important information about the use of budget funds, potential conflicts of interest of officials and local government employees, the wealth of deputies and how to conduct their own personal investigation. The CPR is also grateful for the assistance of journalist Alina Stryzhak.

The material was prepared as part of the work of the Center for Public Investigations, which is being implemented within the framework of the project "More Facts for Dialogue", implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.