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Editor's note: Oleksii Khmara is executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, the Ukraine chapter of Transparency International. The views expressed are the writers' own.

(CNN) -- A vintage car collection, exotic birds and a gaudy palace; former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych was seemingly living the high life even as his country's economy stalled. Now, as economic growth goes into reverse, Ukraine is in desperate need of financial help. The question is whether the country's lawmakers will do what they must to persuade the world that there won't be a repeat of Yanukovych's gaudy lifestyle.

Oleksii Khmara

Last month, anti-corruption protesters in Ukraine surrounded the Kiev parliament building waving gold-painted loaves of bread. The demonstration was aimed at persuading lawmakers to pass strong anti-corruption legislation that would prohibit political leaders like Yanukovych from living gilded lifestyles funded by state coffers.

Sadly, lawmakers balked, and the legislation failed by eight votes as too many members of parliament abstained. The vote was a significant setback to President Petro Poroshenko, who had promised to clean up corruption in his presidential campaign. But more importantly, the vote was a blow against efforts to revive Ukraine's economy as the legislation is a prerequisite to securing the next vital tranche of the $17 billion multilateral loan package from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

The cash is urgently needed if Ukraine is to shore up both its economy and its borders. True, a ceasefire has brought with it a lull in the fighting between government forces and pro-Russian rebels. But clashes have continued even as Russia continues to turn the screws with its own set of sanctions.

The problem for Ukraine is that Yanukovych's lifestyle -- allegedly funded through sweetheart deals and shady companies -- has left the international community wary of handing money over to the government without some guarantee that the rule of law will apply to those handling the funds. After all, Ukraine ranked 144th out of 177 countries in the 2013 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions index, with a score that indicated rampant corruption.

The failure of last month's vote leaves Poroshenko with two more chances before a parliamentary election later this month to push through the required legislation -- on October 7 and October 14. The laws being tabled are a strong set of regulations that organizations including Transparency International Ukraine have helped draft (and indeed have been advocating for years), including the creation of a dedicated National Anti-Corruption Bureau with investigatory powers to centralize what is now dealt with by an ad hoc group of offices that fail to share information and work together.

In addition, the proposals include a time-bound, three-year National Anti-corruption Strategic Plan that sets goals for implementing laws, as well as a law that would make it possible to try those suspected of corruption even if they are not in Ukraine. (The absence of such legislation is thwarting the prosecution and the return of assets allegedly stolen by Yanukovych, who has fled to Russia.)

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Ukraine must tackle corruption