More than 400 civil servants trained in due diligence under the ODEAC project

From 20 April to 8 May 2026, the NGO “Open Data Association” (ASVIDA), together with the YouControl Academy, completed the first basic course of the ODEAC project programme — “Due Diligence Fundamentals: tools, algorithms and practical application using YouControl”. The training was completed by 401 civil servants from more than 15 central executive bodies, independent state bodies and oversight services. Participants rated the training highly.

About the course

The programme was approved by Order No. 34-26 of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service (NADS) of 18 March 2026 and is worth 0.5 ECTS credits. The course is designed for civil servants in categories “B” and “C”: anti-corruption officers, public procurement specialists, internal auditors and other specialists who apply counterparty due diligence procedures in their work. Particular emphasis is placed on preventing fraud and the misuse of EU financial assistance.

The training took place remotely in two groups and combined asynchronous formats (video lessons, presentations, practical assignments, a final test) with synchronous ones (webinars, case discussions, Q&A). The programme trainer was Olesia Spesyvtseva, a speaker at the YouControl Academy.

Results in numbers

• 401 participants from more than 15 public institutions
• Average overall course rating — 4.87 out of 5.
• 88.1% of participants gave the course the top rating of “5”.
• 99.1% rated the course “4” or “5”.
• ≈92% confirmed that the course expanded their knowledge of preventing fraud and corruption when working with EU financial assistance — a key indicator set by Regulation (EU) 2021/785 establishing the Union Anti-Fraud Programme.
• ≈76% of participants were women.

Who took part

The largest group of participants came from the State Audit Service of Ukraine (53.2% of respondents) — the body responsible for external audit of public funds, including EU funds managed through Ukrainian budget channels. Participants also included specialists from the State Statistics Service (13.8%), the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Bureau of Economic Security, the State Property Fund, the Accounting Chamber, the State Environmental Inspectorate, the State Customs Service, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, NABU, ARMA and other bodies. Geographically, they represented at least 14 regions of Ukraine.

What participants say

In open comments, respondents most often highlighted the accessible and professional delivery of the material, the direct applicability of the knowledge in their daily work (especially specialists from the State Audit Service and the Bureau of Economic Security), and the convenience of the online format, which allows them to study outside working hours. Many participants discovered YouControl features they had not used before.

Participants’ constructive suggestions mostly concerned:

• preparing a structured PDF summary to accompany the videos;
• increasing the number of individual practical cases with facilitated discussion of mistakes;
• considering an increase in ECTS credits;
• adding a module on verifying foreign counterparties through international registers.

What’s next

This course is only the first of three training activities under the ODEAC project. By March 2027, the following are planned:

• A specialised course deepening the topics of counterparty checks and anti-corruption analysis in the context of requirements for protecting the EU’s financial interests.
• An advanced practical module on verifying foreign companies through international registers.
• An analytical report and recommendations on strengthening the capacity of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to prevent and detect corruption and fraud when working with EU funding.