Head of NABU: Rada destroyed anti-corruption infrastructure by votes of 263 MPs
22 July 2025 14:30
The Verkhovna Rada, by adopting Bill 12414, has effectively destroyed the anti-corruption infrastructure. Semen Kryvonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, said this at a briefing on July 23, Interfax-Ukraine reports , "Komersant Ukrainian".
“The anti-corruption infrastructure was destroyed by the votes of 263 MPs. What was created as a response to the request of Euromaidan and society to fight high-level corruption has been destroyed today,” the NABU head said.
Kryvonos emphasized that the decision jeopardizes Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. According to him, two key independent institutions – the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office – are now effectively being turned into “dependent institutions.”
According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the law provides for the Prosecutor General’s right
- access to any cases of the NABU and the SAPO and transfer them to other bodies;
- to issue mandatory written instructions to NABU detectives;
- independently close cases against top officials;
- sole resolution of disputes over jurisdiction and signing of suspicions;
- limiting the procedural autonomy of the Head of the SAPO.
The SAPO and NABU issued an appeal to MPs urging them to abstain from voting for the draft law in its current version, calling it “catastrophic for the independence of the anti-corruption system.”
Human rights activists and Transparency International Ukraine also expressed concern, noting that the law violates the Regulations of the Rada and undermines the achievements of anti-corruption reform.
In addition, the committee’s consideration was held without the publication of a comparative table of amendments – MPs voted “in the dark”.
