Secret billions and friends of the president: investigator tells why NABU’s independence was stripped away
22 July 19:32
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine may face political pressure over its investigation into the procurement of drones under defense contracts. Investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov wrote about this on his Facebook page, citing sources in law enforcement and the defense industry, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
He notes that the NABU is investigating contracts for the supply of drones concluded in secrecy, the amount of which allegedly reaches tens of billions of hryvnias. Some of these contracts, according to the journalist, were awarded to companies associated with business partners of representatives of the Presidential Office. In particular, with the head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak, the head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia, and MP Mykola Tyshchenko. And one of the suspects, Serhiy Mindich, was even being served with a notice of suspicion, Nikolov writes.
In the post, the investigator explains that it is about highly profitable defense procurement, which is often hidden behind law firms with an opaque ownership structure. For security reasons, information about the real beneficiaries and the amount of funding is not made public.
At the same time, significant funds are directed to the production of so-called “trucker drones,” which, according to experts, are less effective in the current environment than the production of operationally necessary missiles or cheaper analogues of Shahed-type strike UAVs.
Yuriy Nikolov notes that it is currently unknown whether Ukraine’s international partners are aware of the content and scope of these contracts. Nevertheless, official Kyiv is actively seeking help from its allies to develop the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, particularly in the field of drones.
What the liquidation of NABU means for the fight against corruption and Ukraine’s European integration
A day earlier, on July 21, Yuriy Nikolov analyzed the situation around the recent searches of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on Kyiv24 TV channel and warned about the potential consequences that these actions could have for the institution’s future existence. According to him, the events of recent weeks threaten to turn the NABU into a formal structure with no real impact or even lead to its destruction.
He drew special attention to the information campaign that is being actively conducted in Telegram channels and the media. According to the investigative journalist, it is aimed at discrediting the NABU as an allegedly ineffective body that only consumes budget funds without producing any noticeable results.
Nikolov emphasized that behind such rhetoric is a political order aimed at undermining confidence in the detectives, paralyzing their work, and giving grounds for a political decision to reform or liquidate the bureau.
The journalist also noted that the searches allowed the President’s Office to gain access to important internal materials of the NABU. In particular, to unfinished proceedings that detectives were working on. This poses a threat of interference in the course of investigations, as well as the risk of leaking sensitive information that could potentially be used to protect senior political officials.
In the context of martial law and large-scale defense spending, this means that investigations into procurement, contracts, or the use of public resources conducted by the NABU will be suspended or redirected. Such a scenario, Nikolov believes, could ultimately undermine the trust of both Ukrainian citizens and international partners in the independence of anti-corruption agencies.
This could also have serious consequences for Ukraine’s European integration aspirations, as the independence of the anti-corruption infrastructure has been and remains one of the key requirements of the European Union.
Nikolov then concluded that any attempt to dismantle the NABU as an instrument of independent control over the state apparatus would be a step backwards not only for Ukrainian democracy, but also for the reforms for which society has paid a high price.
What you need to know about draft law No. 12414
The draft law was initiated by MPs Maksym Pavliuk, Viacheslav Medianyk, Oleksandr Bakumov, and Serhiy Minko.
The document was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on January 16, 2025. On April 29, the bill was adopted as a basis. On Tuesday, July 22, the law was adopted (263 MPs pressed the green button) and sent to the President of Ukraine for signature.
Officially, the document concerns amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the investigation of disappearances under special circumstances during martial law. But, according to MP Anastasia Radina, it has been amended to actually subordinate the NABU and the SAPO to the Prosecutor General.
In particular, the law gives the Prosecutor General the following powers
- access to all NABU cases and delegate this access to other prosecutors;
- provide written instructions to NABU detectives and change the jurisdiction of cases;
- to independently resolve disputes over jurisdiction and sign suspicions to top officials;
- exclusively decide who is part of the group of prosecutors, depriving the head of the SAPO of this right;
- to close investigations at the request of the defense.
On the eve of the adoption of the draft law, the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that they had exposed Russian influence on the NABU. According to law enforcement officials, some NABU employees are accused of treason, illegal trade with Russia, and working in the interests of oligarchs. In total, at least 70 searches have been conducted.
What the bill says
Ukraine is planning to introduce new legal mechanisms to more effectively investigate cases of disappearances in the war. The relevant draft law was developed due to the growing number of missing persons in the areas of hostilities and in the temporarily occupied territories. Its main goal is to ensure a prompt response by investigative bodies and to provide families of the disappeared with more access to legal instruments.
Russia’s armed aggression has created circumstances where traditional pre-trial investigation rules often do not work. Lack of access to territories or witnesses, risks for investigators and victims all slow down or make investigations impossible. Lawmakers are seeking to adapt the legal system to new realities.
The draft law proposes to give prosecutors the right to independently determine the place of pre-trial investigation in cases of disappearances under special circumstances. This refers to investigations under Articles 115 (premeditated murder with a note “missing”), 146-1 (enforced disappearance) and 438 (war crimes) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The amendments to Article 615 of the CPC will allow the investigation to be transferred to another region, for example, to the place of residence of the applicant or the victim. This will ensure easier access of relatives to the investigation and reduce administrative and psychological pressure on the families of the disappeared.
In addition, the draft law stipulates that prosecutors will be able to use these powers for another three years after the end of martial law.
Currently, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine does not contain procedures that take into account the specifics of the armed conflict. The Law “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” does not regulate the procedural aspects of pre-trial investigation, and the Law “On the Legal Status of Missing Persons” does not provide for a special investigative regime for wartime. The proposed draft law fills this legal gap.
The authors of the draft law emphasize that it does not provide for additional expenditures from the state budget. It is only about procedural changes that will increase flexibility and efficiency in responding to disappearances.
The initiators of this document also assure that it will strengthen legal protection for families of disappeared persons and allow law enforcement agencies to adapt their work to emergency circumstances. It is expected to increase trust in state institutions, improve the quality of pre-trial investigations and facilitate faster search for missing persons.
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