The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has published its report for the first half of 2024, which states that it was possible to save or return to the state budget 3.7 billion hryvnias. Despite these figures, questions arise regarding the real effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts against the background of the scale of corruption in Ukraine.
In six months of 2024, the amount of compensation in the cases of NABU and SAP reached only 209.3 million hryvnias. Despite the records, corruption crimes continue to flourish, outstripping the success of anti-corruption agencies.
As of June 30, 2024, the state was reimbursed over 9.3 billion hryvnias thanks to NABU and SAP. However, the total costs of maintaining these bodies amount to approximately 12-13 billion hryvnias, which calls into question the economic efficiency of their existence.
In addition, the effectiveness of NABU and SAP is affected by a significant number of acquittals in their cases, as in the case of ex-minister Volodymyr Omelyan, where both cases collapsed in the courts. However, NABU did not officially apologize to the ex-minister for illegal criminal prosecution and damage to business reputation.
There is also concern about violations of the presumption of innocence by NABU, as in the cases against Mykola Solskyi and People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh.
The Kharkiv human rights group also criticized NABU for statements that violate the presumption of innocence. The real reason for the persecution of Solsky is considered to be the reform of the land market in Ukraine.
In addition, Solskyi helped veterans of the ATO in obtaining land plots that other interested parties could "keep" for themselves. It was this fact that embarrassed NABU, which sided with the scandalous National Agrarian Academy instead of military personnel.
Such political persecution 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 Semyon Krivonos, raises serious concerns, given the repeated cases of manipulation of expertise, which may lead to engaged persecution and transformation into the Soviet NKVD.
The falsification of examinations by NABU detectives is usually the legal basis for the acquittals of VACS. As, in particular, was the case of ex-minister Omelyan. And it will probably be in the case of ex-minister Solsky, where NABU detectives tried to hide and cancel the examination that they themselves had appointed. Probably, due to the fact that the examination could prove the innocence of the suspects.
