The EU cut aid to Ukraine due to harassment by NABU and SAPO: what will be the consequences?
фото: Reuters
A reduction in EU funding due to unfulfilled reforms is a bad signal for Ukraine, especially if there are no real changes in the fight against corruption. However, over 350 billion hryvnias are stored in the single treasury account, which allows covering current needs.
This was reported on the air of “Pryamoy” by Borys Kushniruk, an economic and political expert.
“In the current regime, I do not see any risks. There were reports on social networks that there is more than 350 billion hryvnias in the single treasury account at the National Bank. These are huge balances of government funds at the National Bank, respectively, it has the resources to finance current needs,” Kushniruk reassured.
However, according to him, in the long term, such a decision by the European Union will have very negative consequences.
“From the point of view of the current year, this situation is not very good if the European Union begins to reduce the funds they allocate to financing support for Ukraine. Therefore, this game must end someday, when we pretend that we are changing something, but in reality we are not changing anything, on the contrary, we are trying to further limit the fight against corruption. This is a bad signal for Ukraine, but I hope that the situation is under control for now,” explains economic and political expert Borys Kushniruk.
The day before, information appeared that the fourth tranche of the Ukraine Facility program would be delayed and cut because Kyiv had not implemented the promised reforms . Ukraine has not implemented three of the 16 reforms promised to the European Union, so the next tranche will be smaller than planned.
The Ukraine Facility is a financial assistance program for Ukraine from the EU. It provides for the provision of 50 billion euros over the period 2024-2027 for the implementation of European reforms.
As a reminder, on July 22, the Verkhovna Rada voted for a bill that significantly limits the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), effectively subordinating their activities to the Prosecutor General, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it.
The Verkhovna Rada’s support for draft law No. 12414, which effectively deprives the SAPO of its independence and may limit the powers of the NABU, has raised serious concerns in the European Union . This decision will affect the annual assessment of Ukraine’s progress towards EU membership, which the European Commission will publish in October.
In addition, US Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Lindsey Graham expressed concern about a law recently passed in Ukraine, which they said weakens the independence of anti-corruption institutions by subordinating them to the Prosecutor General.
It is worth noting that society negatively perceived the actual destruction of anti-corruption bodies. On July 22 and 23, hundreds of people in many cities of Ukraine took to rallies against Law No. 12414.
Subsequently, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a law on “strengthening the powers of the NABU and the SAPO” . The document stipulates that the Prosecutor General and his deputies do not have the right to give instructions to prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor General is also prohibited from influencing the work of NABU detectives.
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