The concept has changed: why NABU and SAPO started reporting on Bankova Street

NABU and SAPO have received great trust from society and Western allies, but their heads have begun reporting directly to the Office of the President, which raises doubts about the independence of these anti-corruption bodies.

This was stated on the air of “Pryamoy” by Oleg Synyutka, a people’s deputy from “European Solidarity”.

“NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have probably received the greatest credit of trust in Ukrainian society during the entire period of Ukraine’s independence. Because this is a credit of trust directly from the people, because the authorities wanted to destroy the anti-corruption vertical… I was in parliament when on July 22 they drove out everyone they could from the pro-government faction and from the OPZZH, although it is also a pro-government faction, and this is already obvious. They voted to destroy the anti-corruption vertical,” Synyutka recalled.

According to him, having received such a credit of trust from society and Western allies, NABU and SAPO “are simply obliged to work and show results.” At the same time, the people’s deputy emphasizes, the heads of these agencies began to report directly to the Office of the President, which raises certain doubts about the independence of anti-corruption bodies.

“In this context, it was a bitter disappointment for me that the heads of anti-corruption agencies went to report on another detention or case to the Office of the President. In my opinion, this is wrong. We understand that it was from the Office of the President that the team to eliminate the anti-corruption vertical came… And here they went to report on the work done to the Office of the President. This is strange,” the people’s deputy added.

“I would like to believe that after this credit of trust, anti-corruption activists told the President of Ukraine that they would not stop at any positions, at any figures to whom they would not be close. If it was such a conversation, it is positive. If it was a conversation of a different type, then it is dangerous. Because I am convinced that in the government offices there is a desire to take away from the anti-corruption vertical the powers that they received during the Poroshenko period and which they did not use very effectively,” explains People’s Deputy Oleh Synyutka.

On the eve of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) exposed a corruption scheme for the purchase of drones and electronic warfare equipment. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy heard a report by the heads of anti-corruption bodies and emphasized that anti-corruption institutions work independently, and the adopted law “guarantees them all the opportunities for a real fight against corruption.”

Recall, on the evening of July 22, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law limiting the independence of the NABU and SAPO . It should be noted that the adoption of this document took place extremely quickly. The day before, mass searches were carried out on employees of the NABU and SAPO , and a number of detectives announced suspicions. NABU employees were accused of aiding Russia and helping the oligarchs.

The decision has raised serious concerns in the European Union , which said it would affect the annual assessment of Ukraine’s progress towards EU membership. The US Senate has also expressed concern over a law recently passed in Ukraine that it says weakens the independence of anti-corruption institutions by subordinating them to the Prosecutor General.

In addition, thousands of people took to the streets in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine to protest the adoption of the controversial law. Soon after, Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a new bill on the NABU and the SAPO, which restores their independence. On July 31, the Verkhovna Rada adopted it, and the president signed the document on the same day.

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