How much does it cost to maintain the NABU and the SAPO and is it worth such budget expenditures if the efficiency is close to zero and people are being taxed more

For more than 9 years, Ukraine has had a whole system of agencies that had every chance to eradicate corruption. However, even the concentration of powers, where the investigation and prosecution are not actually balanced and act "at the same time," did not yield the expected results, as evidenced by the level of distrust of Ukrainians in anti-corruption activists. Poland decided to liquidate its local counterpart of the NABU in the 20th year of its existence due to inactivity, while in Ukraine it may be much earlier, because in addition to distrust, the figures show that the costs of anti-corruption officers and their efficiency have almost equaled zero, UNN reports .

It is estimated that the costs of the NABU, SAPO, and HACC since their establishment until the end of 2023 amounted to billions of dollars, which can be calculated from the annual budgets of each institution.

For example, the NABU's budget in 2023 was UAH 1.262 billion. The SAPO also received funding at the level of about UAH 300-400 million annually, and the HACC received another UAH 200-300 million annually.

Since their establishment in 2015, the total budgets of these institutions have amounted to approximately:

- NABU: about UAH 8-9 billion. 

- SAP: approximately UAH 2-2.5 billion.

- VAKS: about UAH 1-1.5 billion.

Thus, the total budget of the NABU, SAPO, and HACC over the entire period of their existence may amount to approximately UAH 12-13 billion. If we add to this the budgets of the NACP, which were also supposed to  have a significant impact on the level of countering corruption, the figures will immediately increase by several billion more.

At the same time, the budgetary appetite of each of these bodies is growing every year. This is paid for by taxpayers, for whom they have already prepared another increase in fees. In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers has registered a draft law on amendments to the Tax Code. It is proposed to increase the military tax rate to 5% and oblige individual entrepreneurs of the third group to pay 1% of the tax for the period of martial law. 

Although the anti-corruption activists declare that they show "powerful results"  of their work and the economic effect of their activities amounted to more than UAH 9 billion   as of the end of 2023, the number of cases that resulted in convictions and actual return of funds to the budget is limited. This casts doubt on the ability of anti-corruption agencies to achieve their main goals.

Of course, it cannot be denied that in theory, some of the results of anti-corruption measures can be seen only in the long run. That is, through the gradual eradication of corrupt practices and the fact that the NABU should become a "fear" for corrupt officials.

But whether the NABU, SAPO, and HACC of corruption remains an open question. After all, even foreign auditors have pointed outthat some of the NABU's cases of abuse of power and misappropriation of property resulted in acquittals and drew criticism from the public and business community.

In addition, the auditors statedthat the HACC considers cases for years, while NABU detectives can investigate them for decades. However, as practice shows, the duration of an anti-corruption investigation does not affect its quality.

A good example is the criminal proceedings against former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan. Both cases collapsed in the courts. However, the NABU did not officially apologize to the former minister for illegal criminal prosecution and damage to his business reputation.

In general, the NABU practices claims of "high-profile exposures" of top officials, but such cases do not always have a sound evidence base.

This seems to be the case with another case against the former minister, Mykola Solsky. In April, he was accused of seizing landthat allegedly belonged to the National Academy of Sciences.

In order for the NABU's accusations to be confirmed, they first need to prove that the land really belonged to the NAAS - but there is no data or official documents available. Moreover, the representatives of the agrarian academy themselves say that there were no documents for the land. As it turned out, the former minister's declarations for the period from 2020 to 2023 do not contain a single land plot in Sumy region.

And although during this time anti-corruption activists were unable to provide clear evidence of Mykola Solskyi's "guilt," the loud accusations did their job - he resigned from the post of minister. In addition, the NABU's statements and the minister's resignation caused the disruption of negotiations with the Poles on border unblocking.

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The Kharkiv Human Rights Group called NABU's statements against former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solsky a violation of the presumption of innocence. Human rights activists also believe that the real reason for the prosecution of Solsky is the desire to stop his efforts to create a land market in Ukraine.