Ukraine’s parliament adopted legislative amendments on Monday that severely limit the independence of the country’s two central anti-corruption agencies. The opposition and monitoring organizations warn that the reform “destroys” the agencies’ autonomy.
Parliament voted through legislative changes that give the prosecutor general new extensive powers over investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). The law was adopted with support from 263 parliamentarians, while 13 voted against and 13 abstained, writes The Kyiv Independent.
The legislative amendment still requires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s signature to take effect, and the president has the option to veto it.
New powers draw criticism
Under the new law, the prosecutor general gains the authority to issue directives for NABU’s investigations or even transfer them to other agencies. The prosecutor general can also delegate SAPO’s powers to other prosecutors and close NABU investigations at the request of the judicial system.
The agencies themselves have reacted strongly to the changes. NABU announced in a statement that the amendments mean “destruction of NABU and SAPO’s independence and practically subordinate their activities to the prosecutor general”.
— This is effectively the end of the work of two independent institutions, said Oleksandr Klymenko, head of SAPO, during a press conference after the vote.
NABU’s director, Semen Kryvonos, condemned the legislation and argued that it threatens Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. He also expressed hope that Zelensky would veto the law.
Just one day before the vote, several law enforcement agencies, including the prosecutor general’s office and the security service SBU, conducted extensive searches at NABU and SAPO. Fifteen NABU employees are being investigated for various crimes, from traffic violations to espionage.
Concerns over aid accountability
While anti-corruption efforts face pressure, questions have been raised about accountability for the extensive Western aid to Ukraine. Since February 2024, the West has provided approximately $314 billion in support, with the Pentagon acknowledging that over $1 billion in advanced weapons systems cannot be properly tracked – though without evidence of theft, but rather due to inadequate tracking systems under wartime conditions.
The most documented corruption case to date linked to Ukraine involves Poland, where the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, discovered irregularities worth €91 million in a generator project for Ukraine. Within Ukraine itself, the security service revealed in January 2024 a corruption scandal worth $40 million where the defense ministry paid for shells that were never delivered.
International monitoring organizations maintain that various control mechanisms have been established, but developments regarding NABU and SAPO now raise concerns that future aid could be affected by weakened anti-corruption efforts.
