Large-scale corruption schemes in Ukraine: who made money on what in 2024 (video)
12 February 18:50
Law enforcement and regulatory authorities, energy, and the judiciary are the areas in which individuals and legal entities received the largest number of corruption suspicions last year. This is stated in the report of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) for the 2nd half of the year, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
In 2024, thanks to the coordinated work of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), large-scale corruption schemes were uncovered in several key areas of the economy and governance.
According to the official report, most corruption crimes were recorded in the following sectors:
Law enforcement and control bodies
52 suspects in 12 criminal cases. Among them are prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office who were caught taking a $170,000 bribe to close a criminal case, as well as participants in a scheme operating at the Chernivtsi customs office. They caused almost UAH 290 million in losses to the state through “gray” imports that minimized customs payments.
Energy sector
In 2024, 7 criminal proceedings were investigated, the largest of which were the cases of misappropriation of electricity at NPC Ukrenergo worth UAH 716 million, as well as the legalization of funds received from the sale of energy during the war. The Deputy Minister of Energy was detained for receiving a bribe of $450,000 for granting permission to export mining equipment from the frontline areas.
Judiciary
15 suspects in 7 criminal proceedings. The suspects include the head of the Economic Court of Lviv region and his accomplices, who demanded USD 1 million for making a favorable decision. A scheme was also exposed in one of the district courts of Odesa region that allowed men of military age to avoid mobilization.
The situation with corruption in Ukraine
As of 2025, corruption in Ukraine remains a serious problem that impedes the country’s development and the effective functioning of state institutions. Despite progress in establishing anti-corruption bodies and reforming the judiciary, corruption is penetrating all areas of governance and the economy, and its scale and methods are adapting to new conditions. The current situation indicates that the fight against corruption requires strengthening institutional capacity, modernization of law enforcement agencies, and updating approaches to the prevention and punishment of corruption.
According to experts, corruption in Ukraine in 2025 will continue to actively penetrate key sectors such as energy, law enforcement, judiciary, customs and taxation. In recent years, law enforcement agencies and anti-corruption institutions, including NABU and SAPO, have been actively investigating corruption cases. Despite this, many schemes remain undetected or are not effectively investigated.
Corruption remains a particularly important problem at the local level, where the lack of proper control and imperfect transparency create favorable conditions for abuse. In recent years, numerous cases of bribes for services by local officials have been reported, as well as corruption schemes related to land issues, licenses and construction permits.
Law enforcement and the judiciary remain among the most problematic sectors. In 2024, numerous cases of abuse by law enforcement officials, including prosecutors, police, and customs, were reported in Ukraine. Specialized agencies, such as the NABU, uncovered corruption schemes involving bribes to close cases or to gain access to resources and public contracts. One of the largest corruption cases investigated last year concerned customs schemes that resulted in losses of millions of hryvnias to the state budget.
The judicial system remains another serious problem. In 2024, there were numerous cases of extortion of bribes from businessmen for making decisions favorable to them, as well as manipulation of decisions that influenced political processes in the country. The situation with senior judges, whose corruption remains poorly investigated, is of the greatest concern. Some judges are known to receive substantial bribes to change decisions in cases involving large companies or politically exposed persons.
The energy sector is one of the most vulnerable to corruption. In 2024, several high-profile cases involving the misappropriation of public funds in the energy sector attracted significant public attention. Schemes for the misappropriation of electricity were revealed, as well as abuses in the procurement of energy equipment for critical infrastructure facilities. Senior officials in the energy sector, including deputy ministers, were found to have taken bribes for decisions that were supposed to ensure the supply of energy through dishonest intermediary companies.
Despite significant progress in the fight against corruption, the results achieved remain mixed. Ukraine has succeeded in implementing a number of reforms aimed at increasing the transparency and accountability of state bodies, in particular in the areas of public procurement and customs control. However, the level of implementation of anti-corruption reforms remains low, and the institutions established to fight corruption require further support from the government as well as international partners.
External organizations, such as the World Bank and the European Union, continue to provide support in the fight against corruption. However, the key to achieving sustainable progress in Ukraine is not only support from the international community, but also a change in the political culture within the country, where corruption is still perceived as a normal part of life.
