NABU returned UAH 680 million to the budget, having received UAH 2.6 billion for its own maintenance - expert

NABU will receive UAH 2.6 billion in funding per year starting in January, while last year it returned only UAH 680 million to the budget. Without the Bureau, the Ukrainian budget would have an additional almost UAH 2 billion annually. Political expert Oleh Posternak wrote about this.

"One of the most media-hyped structures decided to sharply increase its expenses. The amount is striking – 2 billion 540 million hryvnias starting this January. The money will mainly go to salaries and bonuses for employees. The entire NABU structure exposed, caught, and packaged corrupt officials for only 680 million, while eating up 2.6 billion a year," he noted.

According to the expert, without NABU, Ukraine would be in the black by almost UAH 2 billion annually.

"For understanding, during its 10 years of existence, NABU has eaten up over UAH 10.6 billion of Ukrainian taxpayers' money. One official of this body earned about UAH 140,000 per month last year, which is 7 times more than a Ukrainian with an average salary. Starting this January, NABU employees will receive even more," he reported.

At first glance, Posternak emphasized, NABU employees were in the public eye: they held press conferences, attended briefings.

"However, the main indicator of effectiveness in such structures is not the number of photos on Facebook, but the amount of money returned to the budget. And this amount, compared to the expenses, is really ridiculous," he informed.

At the same time, the expert recalled NABU's "achievements" over 10 years of existence: contrary to the law, there was no single report of the Bureau in the Verkhovna Rada; NABU employees were caught in corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering abroad, real estate fraud; high-profile arrests and exposures do not end in convictions; case materials are leaked to suspects; some cases are fabricated and dragged on for years to "milk clients," and then the suspects go to the European Court of Human Rights and win millions from Ukraine; Bureau detectives are fired for intimate relationships with witnesses; the first head of NABU was officially recognized as a corrupt official.

In view of this, he proposed changing the approach to rewards in NABU.

"If the KPIs of detectives are measured by likes on Facebook, and not by funds returned to the state, then it is proposed to pay NABU employees with likes. We will like it. No problem," Posternak concluded.

As reported earlier, the same trend was observed in 2024, when NABU received UAH 1.9 billion from the budget, while its activities led to the return of UAH 823 million from corrupt officials.