In dissertation was carried out the theoretical foundation of the phenomenon of management of the conflict of interests in the professional activity of public servants. Scientific work contains the summarizing of the theoretical basis of the conflict of interests and disclosure of its specificity in the professional activity of public servants.
It was clarified that not only the public servant, who is staying in the situation of the conflict of interests, could be the subject of managing the conflict of interests, but also a group of employees, a collective, a team leader, a government body and an agency.
The systematic, individual approach to the interpretation of the phenomenon of conflict of interests in the professional activity of public servants was formulated. The essence of this approach is lying in highlighting the three interrelated key components of the phenomenon, the impact on which provides an opportunity to manage conflict of interests at different stages of their running. Thus, the key components of the conflict of interests in the public service are situational, behavioral and consequential components.
The paper proposes a methodology for identifying the threats of conflict of interests in the public service environment, the essence of which is to analyze the key aspects of the public service, such as: procedural, structural, organizational, institutional and social, for the risk of situations connected with conflicts of interests. The author, on the basis of systematic, individual approach to the interpretation of the conflict of interest phenomenon in the public service, backgrounded the model of the management of conflict of interests in the professional activity of public servants, the main thing of which is in the assessment of triple key components of the conflict of interests: situational, behavioral and consequential.
According to the reasoned model of conflicts of interest management in the professional activity of public servants, a comprehensive management approach to the development of measures to manage this phenomenon was formulated. This approach is a system of actions that are distributed in accordance with the functions implemented in relation to the three key components of the conflict of interest. The conceptual-categorical apparatus in the science of public administration has been improved, namely: the concept of “real conflict of interests in public service” has been clarified as a situation where personal, corporate and public interests of a social entity (public servant, group of employees, collective, state institution, head of a state institution), whose activities consist in the practical implementation of state’s tasks and functions, contradict each other, which affects the objectivity or impartiality of decision-making, or the commission or non-performance of actions caused by professional duties during the performance of official duties.
The concept of “management of conflict of interests in public service" has been defined as determined by norms of current legislation purposeful influence on system of public service, by means of realization of the complex of measures carried out by subjects of management of conflict of interests for prevention, mitigation and resolution of conflict of interests in the professional activities of persons authorized to perform tasks and functions of the state.
The concept of “potential conflict of interests in public service” has been specified as presence in entity, authorized to perform tasks and functions of state, private or corporate interests in sphere in which he implements its official or representative powers, that may affect the objectivity or impartiality of its decisions or the commission or non-execution of actions in the course of the execution of these powers.
The concept of “imaginary conflict of interests in public services” is specified as a situation in which, with the participation of a potential or imagined subject of management of conflict of interest or with the participation of other interested parties, a belief is formed that the private or corporate interests of a subject authorized to perform tasks and functions of the state, are capable in inappropriately from the legal point of view to influence on the performance of this subject of its functional duties, but in reality this belief is false.
The analysis of foreign experience in managing conflicts of interests demonstrated that in the world there are no universal models of managing the conflicts of interests in the public service, which could be used as a single integral integrated strategy for combating corruption in public authorities. However, a number of practices from foreign experience are quite acceptable for implementation in Ukraine. In particular, the experience regarding the depoliticization of the public service institute, the combination of posts and the disclosure of information about the status and interests of officials.
