MPs from Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson contributed to the destruction of the independence of anti-corruption bodies

The Verkhovna Rada has passed a law that puts NABU and SAPO under the control of the Prosecutor General's Office - despite the position of experts, the opposition and the EU. The law was supported by all MPs from Mykolaiv region, the majority from Odesa region, and some MPs from Kherson region, despite warnings about the threat to the anti-corruption system.

This is evidenced by the voting data on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

On July 22, at an extraordinary meeting, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a high-profile draft law No. 12414, which significantly changes the subordination of the anti-corruption bodies NABU and SAPO, effectively bringing them under the control of the Prosecutor General.

Out of ten MPs from Odesa region, six voted for this law: Oleh Kolev, Oleksii Leonov, Oleksandr Horeniuk, Stepan Cherniavskyi, Oleksandr Tkachenko and Anton Kissé. Artem Dmytruk and Anatoliy Urbanskyi were absent, Serhiy Koleboshyn did not vote, and Oleksiy Honcharenko opposed the bill.

Also, all six MPs from Mykolaiv region supported the bill. They are Maksym Dyrdin, Oleksandr Haidu, Ihor Kopytin, Ihor Negulevskyi, Oleksandr Pasichnyi, and Artem Chornomorov.

The law was also supported by MPs from Kherson region: Victoria Vagner, Pavlo Pavlish, Serhiy Kozyr, and Volodymyr Ivanov.

The adoption of the law was preceded by large-scale searches of anti-corruption agencies by the SBU and a statement about the exposure of "Russian agents" in the NABU. On the day before the vote, security forces conducted at least 70 searches without court orders, detaining NABU detective Ruslan Magamedrasulov. It is in this context that amendments to the CPC were adopted, which now allow the Prosecutor General to take over NABU cases, give instructions to detectives, close proceedings and actually manage SAPO prosecutors.

According to the Chesno Movement, 263 MPs voted for the document, mostly from the Servant of the People (185), PZZhM (18), Dovira (17), Batkivshchyna (15), For the Future (10), and Restoring Ukraine (9) factions. The bill was partially supported by MPs from European Solidarity (3 votes), Voice (1), and unaffiliated MPs (5).

Anastasia Radina, head of the Rada's anti-corruption committee, called the changes "catastrophic" for the state and emphasized that the adoption of this law destroys Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure. Representatives of the opposition, including Oleksiy Honcharenko (EU) and Yaroslav Zheleznyak (Holos), also criticized the law, pointing to violations of the rules of procedure and demanding that the law be withdrawn from consideration, but this proposal was not put to a vote by Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.

Immediately after the adoption, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos called on the President of Ukraine to veto the law.

"Two independent institutions - NABU and SAPO - are actually being completely transformed into dependent institutions. We are categorically against this. Now there is still the signature of the President of Ukraine, and we ask him not to sign this bill, to return it with a corresponding veto," the official said.

Anti-corruption bodies warned that the adopted changes not only set the country back in the fight against grand corruption, but also undermine one of the European Union's key requirements to preserve the independence of the anti-corruption infrastructure, a requirement that was a condition for granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate.

On the same day, residents of Odesa held a protest in the city center against the draft law, which, according to the participants, undermines the independence of the NABU and the SAPO. Similar actions were also held in Kyiv and Lviv. The protesters believe that the new law, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on July 22, could return the country to the times of Yanukovych and restore large-scale corruption.

Анна Бальчінос