A package of anti-corruption legislation passed its first reading in Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday as the pro-Western government moved to clean up public life and boost its bid to join mainstream Europe.<br /><br />Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the top levels of government would be targeted under the proposed new laws.<br /><br />“The ‘big fish’ have to be caught,” he said.<br /><br />“We will get real information about the owners of property, land and businesses,” Yatsenyuk told the chamber.<br /><br />“This will give us a real picture of who really owns what in Ukraine.”<br /><br />Corruption and cronyism have been a feature of Ukrainian life since independence, reaching a peak under now ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, whose allies and family members built business empires.<br /><br />Supporters of the clean-up gathered outside parliament to champion changes also demanded by the IMF in helping Kyiv rebuild its shattered economy.<br /><br />Campaigners brought tomatoes to throw at portraits of deputies who failed to show up for Tuesday’s vote or didn’t support the bill.<br /><br />Fearing the legislation could be watered down, Oleksiy Khmara of Transparency International Ukraine said: “MPs are not ready yet to take such a decisive step. They will try to make some deals, bring some changes into the text which will make it worse. So I’d call this vote a half-victory,”<br /><br />The government wants to ease public discontent before an election this month from which it wants backing for its plan to end a pro-Russian separatist rebellion.
