The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has announced its intention to purchase 187 laptops for a total of UAH 7.5 million, which is about UAH 40,000 per device. This decision has sparked public debate, given the significant costs of technical equipment.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine plans to purchase laptops for its employees for almost 7.5 million hryvnias. The order was divided into two lots: the first for 102 computers, and the second for 85. This is according to data on the Prozorro website.
The expected cost of the tender was over 10 million hryvnias, but Portal Arena LLC offered to supply NABU with laptops for almost 7.5 million hryvnias.
As is known, NABU plans to hire about 300 employees over the next three years, most of them detectives and analysts. In 2024, only the first stage of this selection is underway.
Even if NABU fills a third of the advertised vacancies in 2024, that is, 100 new employees, they still do not need two laptops in their hands. Therefore, doubts arise about the feasibility of such a large number of new equipment.
NABU also wants to purchase air conditioners with heating for almost 1.3 million hryvnias, while the authorities and international organizations warn of an extremely difficult energy situation this winter. In addition, the bureau will spend more than 50 thousand hryvnias on the purchase of three portable weather stations.
The budget spent on maintaining anti-corruption agencies is also impressive in terms of numbers. The expenses for NABU, SAPO, and VAKS for the entire time of their existence amount to approximately 12-13 billion hryvnias. At the same time, the budget appetites of anti-corruption agencies are growing every year. All this is paid for by taxpayers, for whom another increase in fees has already been prepared.
At the same time, there are still big questions about the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies. Foreign experts in the report on the results of the assessment of the NABU's activities identified a number of problems. In particular, the auditors concluded that detectives need to communicate with psychologists and the ombudsman to report problems in the workplace.
In addition, international auditors have stated that the Supreme Court of Ukraine considers cases for years, while NABU detectives can investigate them for decades. However, as practice shows, the duration of anti-corruption investigations does not affect their quality, as NABU's "high-profile" cases against high-ranking officials have repeatedly collapsed in the courts.
