The Rada is awaiting an audit of the NABU: a lawmaker has stated that the Bureau’s effectiveness needs to be reviewed
27 April 17:36
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy is awaiting an audit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. This was stated in a comment
“My comment is as follows: the requirements of the law must be complied with,” the lawmaker noted.
According to him, he agrees with the government’s position on the need to conduct such an audit.
“And I agree with the position of the Deputy Prime Minister (Taras Kachka, ed.) that an audit of NABU must be conducted. If there was criticism from NABU on this matter, and then it stopped, then perhaps this indicates that someone did not want such an audit to be conducted,” said Vatrus.
The MP also drew attention to the Bureau’s special status and powers, emphasizing that the agency has a significant scope of authority and therefore must remain under proper oversight within the bounds of the law.
“At the same time, given NABU’s unprecedented powers—which, in fact, no other law enforcement agency in Ukraine possesses—certain methods of oversight regarding its activities, expenditure of funds, and operational effectiveness must exist and are enshrined in current legislation,” he emphasized.
Commenting on the possible timeline for the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision to launch such an audit, the lawmaker noted that he does not have any information on the matter.
At the same time, he stressed that the results of the audit must be made public.
“But I believe that the audit must be conducted and, without a doubt, it must be publicized so that the public has the opportunity to see what this law enforcement agency does, how it is funded, and whether the funds that taxpayers spend on its creation and operation are being spent effectively,” Volodymyr Vatrus concluded.
Context
In mid-March, the Cabinet of Ministers planned to initiate an independent audit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, but the draft resolution has not yet been considered, UP reported, citing its own sources.
Subsequently, this information was confirmed by the Cabinet of Ministers. In particular, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka stated that such an audit is required by law.
“The Law on NABU provides for an annual external independent assessment (audit) of the National Bureau’s performance. At the same time, in accordance with the law, the decision to begin forming the Commission for conducting the assessment is adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine no later than 30 calendar days before the end of the one-year period from the date of approval of the last audit of NABU’s performance. The initiative to conduct the audit in this case is in compliance with the law,” he stated.
Last year’s audit
The previous international audit of NABU covered 9 months of the Bureau’s work out of its more than 10 years of operation. The overall assessment of the Bureau’s work was 1.4 points.
Among other things, the audit identified a number of systemic issues “that require resolution.” These included the lack of a comprehensive development strategy, risks of information leaks, the lack of regulation of certain internal procedures, and inconsistencies in the Bureau’s organizational structure.
In total, the auditors provided NABU with 26 key recommendations.
As reported by
