The Stigma of Lobbying in Ukraine: How the NACP Is Trying to Change the Perception of Legal Influence on Power

In Ukraine, as in many other states, entrenched prejudices about lobbying mechanisms still persist. This was explained in an interview with RBC-Ukraine by Anastasiia Yezerka, a senior specialist at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NACP). In her words, the contradictory perception of lobbying is not exclusively a Ukrainian problem: such a "stigma" is characteristic of most jurisdictions where the legal influence of business on state decisions is only just beginning to be institutionalized.

Awaiting OECD Recommendations: Searching for a Communication Tool

The NACP is currently awaiting recommendations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on which specific communication tools are capable of changing public attitudes toward lobbying. "This stigma is not only about Ukraine; it is inherent to everyone. We are now waiting for the OECD to tell us what will work in communication campaigns — some kind of poster, or a video course. Something has to work, because there really is a certain problem," Yezerka explained. Thus, the agency acknowledges that a single regulatory act is not enough: without systematic work on the narrative and public perception, lobbying risks remaining in the mass consciousness a synonym for shadow schemes.

"The Main Client Is the Lobbyist": A Paradigm Shift in the Agency's Work

Yezerka emphasized that the NACP is oriented first and foremost toward the needs of lobbyists and must become, for them, a kind of entry point into legislation. "For us, the main client is the lobbyist; we listen to the lobbyist, what they need, what is lacking for them. In other words, we are their entry point into legislation," she added. This approach means that the agency positions itself not only as a control body but also as a service structure providing clear rules of the game for all participants in the interaction between business and the state.

The Transparency Register: One Year On

For years, lobbying in Ukraine has been associated with corruption risks and informal channels of influence, which undermined trust in institutions. A turning point was the entry into force of the Law "On Lobbying" on 1 September 2025 — exactly one year ago. The document defined the rules of interaction between business and the state and moved lobbying from an informal plane into the legal field. The key instrument of the reform became the NACP Transparency Register — an open platform with data on lobbying subjects. As of September 2026, the register counts 205 subjects from various industries. According to Yezerka, one indicator of the changing approach to lobbying should be the perception of open meetings between officials and business representatives as normal work: "The more an official appears in the Transparency Register, the better they are working. That is how this indicator should be perceived."

Contradictory Data

The statements of the NACP representative contain a certain internal tension. On the one hand, Yezerka claims that business has "no critical problems in cooperating with officials" and that company representatives "previously communicated with government bodies, so there is no point in talking about a vacuum in this process." On the other hand, she herself acknowledges that the stigma around lobbying persists and requires targeted communication campaigns. Moreover, the figure of 205 subjects in the Transparency Register a year after the law entered into force is not accompanied in the sources by an assessment of whether this is an indicator of successful institutionalization or, conversely, evidence that a significant part of lobbying activity remains outside the register. Both versions — "business understands everything" and "the stigma requires work" — coexist in a single interview, reflecting the transitional nature of the current stage.

International Context: What Ukraine Lacks

The experience of the US and the EU, which RBC-Ukraine references in a related article, shows that a register alone is not enough. In mature lobbying jurisdictions, conflict-of-interest control, transparency of the decision-making process, and a digital trail of communication between lobbyists and officials are also critically important. For Ukraine, where the lobbying infrastructure has existed for only a year, these mechanisms are still in the formation stage. The OECD recommendations, which the NACP expects in the near future, may become a benchmark for refining national regulation and a communication strategy aimed at ensuring that the legal influence of business on power ceases to be perceived as something suspicious.