Public companies non-financial reporting and audit in Ukraine: challenges and prospects

Public companies as strategically important and economically powerful Ukrainian companies should be classified as public interest entities in the context of European integration. Based on the research methodology of the Index of public companies’ transparency of the Center for CSR Development and research of largest public and private companies’ transparency in Ukraine, conducted by TI, the authors concluded about critically low level of transparency of public companies in the disclosure of audited financial reporting, as well as non-financial reporting.

This research may contribute to the existing literature in regard to identifying key areas of improving transparency of public companies in Ukraine on the basis of amendments to the existing order of reporting and additional disclosure of non-financial information and carrying out the statutory audit, taking into account European experience.

Among the issues that require further study, the authors should name the relationship between the level of transparency of public companies, their financial efficiency and investment attractiveness. Among the promising areas of research, the extension of the study on transparency of public interest entities after the publication by the European companies of the first statements prepared in accordance with Directive 2014/95/EU is worth noting.

Limitations of the research carried out concerned the size of the sample Ukrainian public companies analyzed.

Integrated reporting (IR) is an important element in the development of corporate reporting in the European Union (EU). It turns out that stakeholders need not only financial but also non-financial information about the company. Due to changes in the environment, the role of CSR is growing. Enterprises undertake more and more pro-social and pro-environmental activities. European countries and organizations introduce regulations and recommendations that are to improve and standardize IR. The article aims to present IR within the EU and analyze the relationship between the number of reports prepared and the welfare of individual countries. Research methods used in the article are study by action, statistical technique, and critical analysis of literature. The development of IR in the EU is briefly described. It was also analyzed whether there is a correlation between the popularity of IR in a country and its wealth. A high correlation was found between the wealth of a given country and the number of integrated reports prepared. The wealthier the country, the more integrated reports are made there. There is a big difference in the popularity of IR between the EU countries which joined the EU before 2004 and those in the EU from 2004 or later. More than 200 integrated reports are prepared in the countries that joined the EU before 2004 than in the countries that joined the EU in 2004 or later. Although the popularity of IR is growing steadily, there are still a few EU countries where integrated reports are hardly ever present.

Management report is a new form of sustainability reporting (SR) in Ukraine, and its assessment for quality of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria disclosure and compliance among banks plays a crucial role for auditors in the verification process. The Quality and Compliance Bank Management Reports (Q&C BMR) Index methodology was developed for this purpose. The methodology includes a range of formal, content, assurance and disclosure scorings. According to the results of a continuous assessment of these management reports of 75 state, private and foreign-owned banks in Ukraine for the 2018 fiscal year, the average Q&C BMR Index is 61.2%. This indicates a fairly high level of quality and compliance with regulatory requirements for disclosure by banks of Ukraine in their SR. Differentiation of the studied population of banks in terms of Q&C BMR Index allowed distinguishing the following rating groups: А – leaders, B – pursuers, C – starters, and D – outsiders. There is a clear trend in the relationship between the ownership of a bank and its Q&C BMR index. Despite the rather high average value of the index, there is an opportunity to improve Ukrainian banks’ SR in the context of its further standardization and disclosure of the full set of ESGs – a criterion for all rating groups (especially C and D). Q&C BMR Index can be used as a benchmark by banks, regulators and auditors when comparing the level of disclosure by banks and their transparency.

Acknowledgment
The comments of an editor and anonymous referees have been gratefully acknowledged. Inna Makarenko gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine – Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility for Sustainable Development: Partnership of Stakeholders in the Real, Financial and Public Sectors of the Economy (0117U003933).