SAP and NABU employees wrote themselves hundreds of thousands in state aid "for social and domestic needs" and are taking it abroad – investigation

Then they withdraw this money from Ukraine or hide it in electronic wallets with cryptocurrency. NABU detectives use the same scheme, according to the investigation by "Ukrainian News".

"Society has the right to demand explanations as to why high-ranking officials with monthly salaries of over 200,000 hryvnias and millions in savings also receive hundreds of thousands in state 'aid'. Formally, such payments are supposed to compensate for social and domestic difficulties of civil servants. In fact, they have turned into an additional hidden bonus used for investments in expensive foreign assets, cryptocurrency, or other financial instruments," the investigation states.

According to "Ukrainian News", in August 2024, SAP prosecutor Oleksandr Ivanyushchenko received 162,392 UAH in financial assistance from the state. On the same day, he declared the acquisition of ownership rights to iShares GSCI Commodity Dynamic Roll Strategy ETF securities from BlackRock (USA), which casts doubt on the targeted use of this state payment, journalists write.

"Prosecutor Ivanyushchenko actively invested in foreign stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrency throughout 2024. His portfolio consists of expensive securities of global corporations (Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Caterpillar), Turkish government bonds, and high-risk cryptocurrencies. In addition, at the end of the year, he had 26,700 dollars, 15,000 euros, and 238,077 UAH in cash," they noted.

In August of this year, the investigation reports, another SAP prosecutor, Rostyslav Batig, received financial assistance in the amount of 165,655 UAH.

"Even in the midst of war and with the family having cash and savings in foreign currency, prosecutor Batig, through his wife, invested funds in government bonds. This looks like a way to preserve and multiply capital through 'financial assistance' from the SAP in the amount of 165,655 UAH. In addition, Rostyslav Batig, at the end of 2024, shows his own savings of 26,700 US dollars in cash, over 216,574 UAH in accounts at PrivatBank, 26,463 UAH at Universal Bank, and domestic government bonds. The presence of significant cash savings (in foreign currency and deposits), domestic government bonds, and a high salary in Batig indicates that he is not in difficult social and domestic conditions," "Ukrainian News" notes.

The authors of the investigation mentioned NABU detective Oleksandr Skomarov, who in December 2023 declared financial assistance in the amount of 152,167 UAH. In the same month, he also declared a number of cryptocurrency transactions, they stated.

"In fact, within one week, he combined the acquisition of cryptocurrencies with receiving 'aid for social and domestic needs,' which, by law, should be provided in cases of financial hardship or unforeseen expenses. At the same time, in 2025, his name repeatedly appeared in resonant journalistic materials, where he was called an odious detective," they emphasized.

Journalists are convinced that the examples of SAP prosecutors Rostyslav Batig and Oleksandr Ivanyushchenko and NABU detective Oleksandr Skomarov indicate a systemic problem.

"A logical and necessary step should be financial monitoring by the NACP. The agency must thoroughly check both the targeted use of financial assistance and the correlation of income and expenses in the real lives of these officials. Only such control can give society an answer as to whether the system of social support for prosecutors and detectives has not turned into another scheme for awarding bonuses at the expense of the budget," the "Ukrainian News" investigation concludes.