The crisis in the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which became known after the “leaks” of details of criminal investigations to their subjects, could end according to two scenarios.
The crisis in NABU can be resolved in two ways – either the Bureau will undergo a complete reboot, or a partial change of management. But it seems that the second option is more profitable and cheaper for both the OP and Western partners.
“It is difficult to say now how the situation will develop. There will be strong attention, this is one of the directions that the West is pursuing. Will there be a change of management – simply the removal of Gizo (Gizo Uglava, deputy head of NABU) and will this suit everyone, or will the West want to reboot the leadership and will look for mechanisms for this – I am not ready to say yet. So far, everything looks like they are ready to update the level of deputies, but the question is whether the Ukrainian side will agree,” the interlocutor of RBC-Ukraine notes.
The current situation in the Bureau is described by RBC-Ukraine’s interlocutors as a so-called “fork” for the head of the department, Semyon Krivonos. He can choose an independent position and not make contact with the President’s Office, which seeks to control the Bureau, or end the existing dialogue. Or he can allow the authorities to exercise control over NABU and try to build a parallel dialogue with Western partners.
At the same time, it is unlikely that in the near future the Bureau will receive what the authorities have been paying attention to for a long time – a separate wiretap line and an expert institution, which NABU needs to analyze the actions of suspects if they were related to banks. For now, the Bureau in this regard depends on the expertise that other law enforcement agencies have, in particular, the SBU. As long as the Bureau is in crisis, the authorities will say that their demands are untimely, says an RBC-Ukraine source in the Servant of the People parliamentary faction.
“I think that first NABU should resolve internal issues regarding information leaks, clearly respond to this at least with dismissals, corresponding organizational changes in NABU – from changing the internal structure to re-certification of employees of departments that probably failed, and only then can we talk about granting NABU powers such as an expert institution,” noted the source in “Servant of the People.”
Recall that on Thursday, June 27, Ukrainian media reported on searches at the former deputy head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. The network stated that NABU officers were conducting searches at Tymoshenko’s “as part of the case of leaking information to NABU.”
Tymoshenko confirmed the searches, but did not indicate what case they were part of.
According to RBC-Ukraine sources, the investigative actions were carried out within the framework of the “NABU leaks case”. It is connected with the leak of information from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to the defendants in the criminal case on the possible theft of funds within the framework of the “Big Construction”.