Who "leaked" NABU cases? International audit revealed failures in internal control and influence on the Uhlava case

In May 2025, the first international audit of NABU's effectiveness in ten years was published. The report of the independent commission of auditors recorded systemic problems in the bureau's work: ineffective activities of the Internal Control Department (ICD), lack of accountability and excessive influence of NABU Director Semen Kryvonos on the course of internal investigations, UNN reports with reference to the document.

ICD: 10 years - no verdict

Throughout the entire period of NABU's existence, internal control has not brought a single case to a verdict regarding information leaks committed by bureau employees. In 2023-2024, several internal investigations were opened, but none of them even resulted in the announcement of suspicion. How many criminal cases were compromised as a result of these leaks and what were the losses for the state - the auditors do not specify. At the same time, they emphasize that the department performs both prevention and investigation functions, which creates an obvious conflict of interest. In addition, the decision to start or terminate an official investigation is made personally by NABU Director Semen Kryvonos.

Kryvonos stopped the investigation and is silent about the Uglava case

In at least one case, Kryvonos canceled the internal investigation, explaining it by the fact that NABU representatives allegedly encouraged detectives to participate in a podcast that violated the presumption of innocence of the defendants. The report also mentions the scandalous leak of 2024, related to the former first deputy director of the bureau, Gizo Uglava. The head of the SAPO obliged the internal control department to investigate this case, although, according to the auditors, the investigation should have been carried out not by the department, but by a separate investigation team. Kryvonos avoids public comments on the Uglava case, instead accusing lawyers, courts, police, SBU, state registers - everyone except NABU itself - of leaks.

Particular attention is paid to Kyiv lawyers led by Dmytro Borzykh, who are called "the most influential in the country", "lawyers with law enforcement skills", "lawyers with their own security service" in the bureau - and those who allegedly ruined all key NABU cases. Kryvonos even resorts to exclusive interviews exclusively on the topic of their activities. This is about the so-called "NABUgate" case, when NABU detectives established wiretapping in the office of these lawyers, including the negotiating room where defense strategies of suspects in NABU cases were discussed.

These lawyers specialize exclusively in NABU cases and previously held senior positions in the Main Military Prosecutor's Office. The NABU accuses the lawyers of accessing the closed court register, saying that they "spied" on the appearance of search warrants for their clients and warned them about it. After all, when the detectives came to the searches, everything was already "clean." Instead, the lawyers deny the NABU's hypotheses, explaining that searches are a predictable investigative action that can be predicted by indirect evidence, especially with considerable investigative experience. Let us clarify that these former prosecutors, now lawyers, conducted high-profile anti-corruption cases, including against ex-Minister Oleksandr Klymenko, who was reasonably suspected of causing losses to the state in the amount of UAH 100 billion. After the cases were transferred to NABU and SAPO, a number of similar cases were closed for formal reasons, and the arrested assets were unblocked - without any compensation to the state. Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy deprived Klymenko of his citizenship.

Wiretapping of lawyers and the limits of NABU's powers

After the scandal with the wiretapping of lawyers, the SBI opened a criminal investigation against NABU detectives - it is about violating attorney-client privilege. This case, according to experts, proves the danger of granting NABU autonomous right to wiretapping: in case of legalization, the scale of violations will only increase - including with regard to international standards and Conventions, which will negate Ukraine's status as a rule of law state.

Uglava case: silence and "suspended" investigation

Former First Deputy Director Gizo Uglava, the actual head of NABU, who in 2024 was publicly accused of leaking information about future searches in cases with billions of losses, was dismissed without suspicion. The investigation is not completed.

According to journalists, Uglava still moves freely around the city with security, visits elite establishments and appears at closed events in the company of criminal authorities. There is no public report on the results of the investigation. Uglava had access to all cases, meetings and top investigation plans. The extent of possible leaks is unknown, and NABU is hiding this information.

Symbolic control: no inspections, no results

The auditors' report records: the internal control department almost does not carry out real monitoring of the lifestyle of NABU employees. In 2023, only 6 inspections were conducted (1 case was transferred to criminal proceedings, 1 - to official investigation), in 2024 - 10 inspections, of which only three ended with official investigations. The KPI of the department's activity is either absent or formal. A characteristic detail is Kryvonos' public ignoring of the scandal with the crypto wallets of detectives, which involve millions of sums. No response from the leadership.

 "A former NABU employee informed the Commission that his supervisor said: "It is better for you to complain less to internal control"", the report said (p. 37).

Imitation of independence

The audit covered the period from March 2023 to November 2024 - the period of Semen Kryvonos' leadership of the bureau. Despite the limited period, the auditors recorded persistent trends: low efficiency, lack of accountability and a desire to separate from other law enforcement agencies. The formal assessment is "moderately effective", but on the scale it is only slightly above the minimum, which allows to avoid consideration of the issue of official non-compliance of the director of the bureau.

Context

The external independent evaluation of NABU, provided by law, was conducted for the first time in 10 years. The commission included international anti-corruption experts appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: Martin Arpo, Robert Westbrooks and Hermione Teresa Cronier. Full analysis - at the link:  https://unn.ua/news/10-rokiv-bezkarnosti-ta-zghasannia-antykoruptsiinoho-flahmana-shcho-pokazav-pershyi-shchorichnyi-audyt-nabu