“From a request without a result": NABU celebrates its 10th anniversary, but the expediency of the bureau's existence remains debatable

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The event was called "From Request to Result," and as noted by the bureau, it was fully funded by the US Embassy in Ukraine. However, unlike international donors, the majority  of Ukrainians expressed distrust of anti-corruption activists, as recently reported by the sociological group Rating, UNN reported.

As noted in NABU's post on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the anti-corruption agency has "come a long and difficult way" from inquiry to justice. According to the bureau's director, Semen Kryvonos, the NABU has demonstrated its effectiveness in numbers: 1500 people have been brought to justice (150 per year). However, apart from the numbers, the effectiveness of the fight against corruption in the country remains invisible. Commentators noted this in particular  under the NABU's post , but the bureau decided not to discuss this topic and simply delete unwanted feedback.

There are only 40 comments under NABU's post, and about 80% have been deleted.

Criticism  of the NABU has been growing over the years, and distrust is deepening. Recent polls by the Rating sociological group confirm that the majority of Ukrainians (almost 60% of respondents) do not trust the actions of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. 

As a reminder, NABU was established in 2014 as part of the system of anti-corruption bodies to fight corruption among high-ranking officials, in the context of fulfilling Ukraine's obligations to the EU and the International Monetary Fund.  However, corruption in Ukraine remains  one of the main problems. The key factors that undermine Ukrainians' trust in the NABU remain:

• Low efficiency (the number of convictions is critically low compared to the number of investigated cases). According to experts, the NABU is “choked” in its cases because it investigates non-priority and sometimes PR and political cases, which paralyzes its work.
• Political pressure: The NABU often finds itself under political pressure, which makes it difficult for it to work independently. Recent cases include the conflict between Semen Kryvonos and Gizo Uglava, who accused NABU of losing its independence and playing political games.
  
• Financial costs: The NABU's work requires significant financial resources from the state budget. Critics question the correlation between the NABU's expenditures and its actual effectiveness in reducing corruption. 
  
• Acquittals: High-profile NABU and SAPO indictments often result in acquittals. This means that anti-corruption activists illegally bring people to criminal responsibility. This was the case with former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, who was publicly accused of crimes by detectives, but failed to prove his guilt in court. 
  
•  Manipulative investigations: NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors violate the principles of independent and objective investigation, especially with regard to forensic examinations they order to confirm their accusatory hypotheses. In particular, NABU detectives do not hesitate to order such examinations from friendly private entitiessuch as, for example, LLC “ES&D”.  Or try to cancel the examinations if their results do not meet their expectations. This, in particular, was the case in the case of the former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi, where detectives wanted to hide the results of a forensic examination, which they themselves had ordered. 
  

So, on the one hand, the results of the body do not yet meet the expectations of many citizens, as the level of corruption in Ukraine remains high and the number of convictions is low. On the other hand, the very existence of an independent anti-corruption body is important for international support for Ukraine and its integration into the EU.

Given the results of the past 10 years, the effectiveness of the NABU remains debatable and clearly requires reform that will increase the effectiveness of the fight against corruption while reducing the political and PR component of the agency's work.

Equally important is the personal responsibility of NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors for illegally bringing people to justice. After all, in the case of the acquitted ex-minister Volodymyr Omelian, not a single detective or prosecutor has been held accountable .