“The purpose of the FATF is to create a global system of struggle against money laundering and terror financing,” a member of Our Ukraine Bloc, MP Stanslav Dovhyi told RAZOM site.
“Three main directions are development of an effective co-operation with international organizations, foundation of regional organizations and extension of the FATF with new members. Naturally, it is desirable for Ukraine to enter the FATF because Ukraine is interested in international co-operation concerning the struggle against money laundering.”
“Such countries as Argentine, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Russia became members of the Group during the last three years. Total number is 33. India and China hold negotiations about their potential membership”.
“But the FATF considers a priority to extend its membership with the countries that would play the essential role in the process of implementation of the Group’s recommendations. Surely, Russia and China are like that. Ukraine does not meet this criterion directly.”
“But it does not mean we do not have a chance to enter the FATF,” he thinks. “Any country of the Eastern and Central Europe is not a member of the Group. Therefore Ukraine could play a role of a regional leader in the struggle against legalization of criminal profit and terror financing and get the FATF membership consequently. Really, the system of combating money laundering in Ukraine is built according to modern international standards,” Dovhyi noted.
“It is a great triumph of Ukrainian power,” said in his turn MP Vasyl Hureyev, commenting on the fact that the FATF stopped Ukraine’s monitoring.
“It was very hard to cancel the sanctions of the FATF concerning Ukraine,” he noted. “It is a proof of trust into a political and economic course of the new leadership. It is a sign that the world community admits we have a transparent economic policy, transparent business,” considers the MP.
“Yesterday’s decision of the FATF creates an opportunity to arise the question of our membership,” Hureyev noted. “I think that the Finance Ministry and the Economy Ministry shouldn’t stop monitoring of activity of domestic business structures, but strengthen it to get rid of the problems because of which Ukraine was included in the black list,” he emphasized.
