Zelensky agreed on the text of the new draft law on the independence of NABU and SAPO

On July 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky approved the text of a new draft law that defines the work of anti-corruption bodies.

He reported this on his Telegram page.

The head of state believes that the text of this document is “balanced”. According to him, the initiative “guarantees real strengthening of the law and order system in Ukraine, the independence of anti-corruption bodies, as well as reliable protection of the law and order system from any Russian influence or interference”.

"The most important thing is real tools, no Russian connections, and the independence of NABU and SAPO. The draft law will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine today," Zelensky stressed.

Earlier this day, 48 MPs from different factions signed a bill on restoring independence to anti-corruption structures. The bill is to repeal all provisions of Law No. 12414, and the Rada will be able to vote on it tomorrow.

World leaders, partners, and influential international organizations are reacting to the situation with the restrictions on the Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office in Ukraine.

What is happening with NABU and SAPO?

On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada adopted, and President Volodymyr Zelensky signed, Law No. 12414, which amends the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Among other things, the Prosecutor General will be granted the following powers:

• to take cases from NABU and entrust the investigation to other bodies;
• be the de facto head of SAPO and delegate the powers of the SAPO prosecutor to other prosecutors;
• provide the Bureauʼs detectives with mandatory written instructions;
• independently close cases on suspicion of top officials.

Amendments are also envisaged that will limit the activities of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office, namely:

• the SAPO prosecutors will not be able to determine the NABUʼs jurisdiction in certain cases;
• the head of SAPO will not be able to resolve disputes about subjectivity in cases that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau can investigate;
• The head of SAPO will not have the authority to amend appeals and cassation complaints filed by the SAPO prosecutors.

Anti-corruption authorities stressed that if the document is adopted, the head of SAPO will become a nominal figure, and NABU will lose its independence and turn into a unit of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office. Protests against the bill have begun across Ukraine.

What preceded the law

On July 21, law enforcement officers conducted mass searches at NABU and SAPO. In particular, they detained one of the heads of the Bureauʼs interregional detective departments Ruslan Maghamedrasulov. According to the investigation, the official was in close contact with the fugitive MP from the banned “OPZZh” party Fedir Khrystenko (he was reported suspected of treason), who is connected to the Russian special services.

NABU reported almost 70 searches involving 15 of its employees. They stated that most of them were due to the employeesʼ involvement in a traffic accident (three employees were later reported as suspicious for this).

SBU also said that it had exposed a mole in NABU who was spying for FSB. At the same time, the Bureau says that back in 2023, the special service was informed about a possible mole, but at that time the SBU did not reveal the involvement of the bureau employee in espionage.

NABU and SAPO also accused the Security Service of potentially revealing confidential information about the investigation during investigative actions. SBU called these statements manipulations.

And on July 22, SBU reported the discovery of new leaks of secret data in the NABU — during searches at Khrystenkoʼs house, confidential NABU documents were found.

After studying the materials of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, the court arrested two NABU employees — an employee of the NABU Central Office, who, according to the investigation, works in the closed unit "D-2", and one of the heads of the interregional departments of the NABU detectives Ruslan Maghamedrasulov.

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