NABU announces procurement of heated air conditioners worth a million amid energy-intensive winter

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine wants to buy air conditioners with heating for almost UAH 1.3 million, while the authorities and international organizations warn of a very difficult energy situation this winter. This is evidenced by the data on the Prozorro website, UNN reports. 

In total, the NABU plans to purchase four lots - air conditioners for the Kyiv and Dnipro offices, as well as an electric water heater for the Dnipro office. The expected value of the tender is almost UAH 1.3 million, and funding will come from the state budget.

NABU is currently reviewing the proposals. Two private entrepreneurs won the tender for supplying air conditioners for Kyiv offices.

It should be noted that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine plans to purchase air conditioners amid statements by the authorities and international partners about the extremely difficult energy situation this winter. In particular, this has been repeatedly stated by the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko. According to him, the challenges this winter will be greater than in the winter of 2022-2023.

The UN mission predictsthat Ukrainians can expect power outages from 4 to 18 hours a day in winter, and some regions may be left without heating.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predictsthat the coming winter will be the most serious test for Ukraine since the full-scale invasion. Electricity shortages could reach six gigawatts this winter amid Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and the expiration of the gas supply contract at the end of this year.

So we are waiting to see what decision the NABU will make. However, given the forecasts for the upcoming winter, a logical question arises: is it reasonable to spend more than a million budget funds on purchasing air conditioners for the anti-corruption bureau?

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In April, the NABU purchased services to repair toilets for more than UAH 3 million. And in September, it planned to repair the facades and premises of administrative buildings for more than 5 million hryvnias. 

The budget spent on the maintenance of anti-corruption bodies is also impressive. The costs of NABU, SAPO and HACC for the entire period of their existence amount to approximately UAH 12-13 billion. At the same time, the budgetary appetites of the anti-corruption agencies are growing every year. All this is paid for by taxpayers, for whom the next fee increases have already been prepared.

At the same time, there are still big questions about the effectiveness of the anti-corruption agencies. Foreign experts have identified a number of problems in their report on the NABU's performance. In particular, the auditors concluded that detectives need to communicate with psychologists and the ombudsman to report problems in the workplace. 

In addition, international auditors have statedthat the HACC reviews 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, as "high-profile" NABU cases against high-ranking officials have repeatedly fallen apart in courts.