JST Fellow and open data expert Nataliia Chornohub is helping Ukraine navigate a difficult course between transparency and national security – and the UK is now benefiting from her expertise.
Nataliia is CEO of YC World, part of You Control, an IT company specialising in using open data to prevent corruption, fraud and money laundering. She’s also head of the NGO Open Data Association of Ukraine and an expert advisor to the Council of Europe.
Nataliia says: “My motivation for working on anti-corruption issues and in open data is because I’m fighting for democracy. I believe there is a strong connection between access to data, engaging citizens in making decisions and preventing corruption and fraud.”
For Nataliia, the challenge is how to ensure a level of transparency in government spending, while also protecting Ukraine’s security and defence capabilities.
“Some information about how the Ministry of Defence spends its money should be closed,” she explains. “If the enemy knows this, it will cause huge dangers to our country. But at the same time, we need to reveal corruption. We need to understand how budget money is spent and whether civil society and business can trust the government’s decisions.”
A new perspective
In 2025, Nataliia took part in our Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Programme – a partnership with the Scottish Government. This brought together five Ukrainian experts who work in digitalisation, innovations and private sector development – and the cohort remain in close contact.
During the programme, Nataliia met with representatives from the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, Scottish policing agencies, and the University of St Andrews. She also took part in leadership training and met with JST Fellows from the Wider Europe and Central Asia region.
She says: “In Ukraine, we have been under pressure for a long time. When you are working in this environment, you are focused on solving your own concrete problems. JST gave me a rare time and space to see out of the box and feel like I’m not alone; there are other leaders facing the same challenges.
“It also showed me how to better understand the European agenda and offered another angle on how to be a good leader.”
Uncovering networks of influence
After finishing the JST programme, Nataliia decided to step up and take on more responsibility. “I started to be more proactive,” she says. “I understood that I had the skills, so why not to use this opportunity to help both the Ukraine and the UK? I convinced our board of directors to open YC World, a new entity in the UK.”
YC World is an open data tool that helps governments, businesses, journalists and law enforcement agencies understand beneficial ownership – who ultimately controls and benefits from a company’s activities.
Nataliia explains: “Imagine the UK Government wants to sign a contract with a logistics company. At first glance, it seems like a good company; the director is British and the beneficial ownership is British. But when you check in YC World, you find out the director is also a director of a company in Russia. This has entities in Belarus and Kazakhstan – and one of these is under sanctions. Within 10 seconds, the system reveals all these connections.”
Benefits for the UK
The UK’s support for Ukraine is still strong. In 2025, the UK and Ukraine signed a 100-year Partnership Agreement and a new UK business centre for defence will open in Kyiv. In this context, tools like YC World are crucial.
And while Ukraine continues to rely on international support for its survival, Nataliia believes her country has much to offer its international partners. “The war means we are working in a context where technology becomes old every two weeks. There’s a need to constantly change and implement new solutions.”
And that doesn’t only mean testing defence technologies on the battlefield. Ukraine has gained experience in defending itself against more than 5,000 cyber attacks every year, countering misinformation and fake news and thwarting Russian sanctions evasion.
Trust, security and democracy
“Ukraine can share its expertise and practical solutions,” says Nataliia. “In terms of transparency, we have more than 30,000 open data sources that you can easily search. Even now, during the full-scale invasion, some information is still open. Our international partners are surprised by this – but we have kept this balance.
“Of course, there is also critically important public data that is currently not publicly available, and we are advocating for its release.”
Nataliia adds: “I’m proud that I’m helping not only Ukraine in the sphere of national security, protection, compliance, but I’m also helping the UK Government, Ministry of Defence and law enforcement agencies to protect themselves.
“We can bring expertise in identifying Russian networks, complex corporate structure and financial flows. We can share practical instruments for how to protect defence companies in the UK. And that’s why we can increase trust, security and democracy, together.”
Find out more about our Ukraine Recovery Leadership Programmes here: Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction