Investigative Journalism for Transparency: the winners of the media contest awarded in Kyiv

The Final Conference of the project was held on the 21 of December in Kiev. It was implemented in format of an Open Space and gathered participants of previous trainings that were conducted in September – November.

The group was welcomed by Citalia Grozeva, representative of the German organization "Media in Cooperation and Transition", which is a partner in the project. She noted that the development of Ukrainian investigative journalism is extremely important as it enables society to access information on the real situation in different areas of the state affairs and unites civil society in the pursuit of raising the level of media literacy.

During the event, all participants received certificates of completion of the educational program. Seven best investigators were awarded also with valuable prizes.

To conduct the contest there was formed an independent jury of well-known journalists and editors. The awards were given to the following participants:

The first place in competition took Yulia Ugryumova with "Education for Orphans – who owns the money allocated for school and kindergarten renovation" material.

Second place was won by joint material of Yuriy Lobachev and Anton Kostyuk "Career LIFT for chosen: appointments in Skadovsky district"; and by Artem Marchenko with the "Transparent” School Procurement? How a school in Vladymyr-Volynsky bought kitchen furniture" article.

Third place was awarded to Elena Liposhko for the material "Overpriced utilities. A company associated with local deputies wants to provide central heating for doubled tariff"; and to Irina Ukhvarina for the material "Fuel frauds".

The prize in nomination "Best publication on political finances" was awarded to Maxim Yurchenko for the "Who Contributed to the Electoral Fund of Alexei Kucher – Chairman of Kharkiv Regional State Administration" investigation.

In the "Significant contribution to the development of local investigative journalism" nomination we admitted Alex Pilipenko, who developed the total of five media publications in the frames of the project on different topic in his hometown, among which the highest rating received the "How local business leaders steal on housing services" article.

The prize "Jury' sympathies" was received by Anna Mironyuk for the material "Ex-president’s administration concealed a $600,000 payout to a lobbying firm", which was also published in the Kyiv Post.

"Investigative Journalism for Transparency" project is implemented in a partnership with German organization "Media in Cooperation and Transition" using the German Federal Foreign Office resources.