NABU Records: Anti-Corruption Effect or a Drop in the Ocean?

Anti-corruption bodies reported 3.7 billion hryvnias saved or returned to the budget in the first half of 2024. The bulk of this amount, almost 3.4 billion, was saved thanks to preventive measures during army procurement. However, against the backdrop of the scale of corruption, these achievements seem insignificant, writes UNN.

Over the six months of 2024, the amount of reimbursements in NABU and SAP cases reached only 209.3 million hryvnias. Despite the records, corruption crimes continue to thrive, exceeding the successes of anti-corruption bodies.

As of June 30, 2024, over 9.3 billion hryvnias were reimbursed to the state thanks to NABU and SAP. However, the total cost of maintaining these bodies is approximately 12-13 billion hryvnias, which calls into question the economic efficiency of their existence.

In addition, the effectiveness of NABU and SAP's work is influenced by a significant number of acquittals in their cases, as in the case of former Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, where both cases collapsed in court. However, NABU did not officially apologize to the former minister for the illegal criminal prosecution and damage to his business reputation.

There is also concern about violations of the presumption of innocence by NABU, as in cases against Mykola Solskyi and MP Serhiy Kuzmins.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Group also criticized NABU for statements that violate the presumption of innocence. They consider the real reason for the persecution of Solskyi to be the reform of the land market in Ukraine.

In addition, Solskyi assisted ATO veterans in obtaining land plots that other interested parties could have "reserved" for themselves. This fact puzzled NABU, which took the side of the scandalous National Agrarian Academy instead of the servicemen.

Such political persecutions and the critically low trust of Ukrainians in anti-corruption bodies are serious signals on the eve of the first international audit of NABU, which, according to the bureau's management, is about to begin.

At the same time, the idea of creating its own expert institution at NABU, proposed by Semen Kryvonos, raises serious concerns, given the repeated cases of manipulation of expert opinions, which can lead to biased prosecutions and a transformation into a Soviet-style NKVD.

It is the manipulation of expert opinions by NABU detectives that is usually the legal basis for acquittals by the HACC. As, for example, was the case with former Minister Omelyan. And it is likely to be the case with former Minister Solskyi, where NABU detectives tried to hide and cancel the expert opinion that they themselves appointed. Probably because the expert opinion could have confirmed the innocence of the suspects.