NACB and SACPO ask Zelenskyy to veto bill on subordination of anti-corruption bodies to Prosecutor General

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SACPO) are asking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto the bill, which effectively subordinates the NACB and the SACPO to the Prosecutor General.

The NACB Director Semen Kryvonos and the SACPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko stated this at a briefing, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

"The two institutions are actually being completely transferred to a dependent regime. We are against this. There is still the president's signature and we ask not to sign this bill and veto it. We want a strong anti-corruption infrastructure, because this is what Ukrainian society wants. We categorically condemn such actions and ask not to sign this bill," Kryvonos said.

According to Klymenko, this bill destroys the independence of both institutions and is the end of the independent work of the two anti-corruption institutions.

"We welcome the counterintelligence measures of the SSU, but such actions cannot be a reason to destroy the anti-corruption institution. We would like to see evidence of the crimes of our employees. But even such cases definitely cannot be a reason to destroy the anti-corruption bodies," the NACB director added.

He noted that the unity of the factions in supporting this bill is impressive.

"They were very happy, we saw it. But let's gradually assess the actions of the authorities, because the law has not yet been signed," Kryvonos emphasized.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the Verkhovna Rada granted the Prosecutor General access to all NACB cases and the authority to sign suspicions against top officials himself.