NABU audit reveals problems in management and team, selectivity in investigation of crimes

The international audit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has revealed shortcomings in management, excessive bureaucracy, selectivity in the investigation of crimes and problems in the team.

This is evidenced by the results of the NABU audit for 2021-2023, which was conducted by a group of experts at the initiative of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

According to experts, the morale of the NABU personnel remains strong, but there are signs of gradual burnout and deterioration.

"The NABU has always had highly motivated employees with a clear understanding of the NABU mission. The NABU employs staff through open competitive selection, but there is concern that the appointment to the highest positions within the NABU is not based on the personal qualities of the candidates and encouraged personal loyalty, not effectiveness and desire to improve. Too many levels of leadership, excessive bureaucratization of certain processes, lack of professional development opportunities due to promotion to higher positions or an increase in the size of wages, imperfect working conditions, technical work that takes a lot of time for detectives, and other factors put pressure on the morale of workers," the audit results say.

It also notes that several senior detectives left the NABU, and an anonymous staff survey conducted by the assessment team demonstrated a high percentage of employees who plan to leave the organization within the next 2-3 years (which can be partially explained by recent legal changes that allowed retirement in earlier age for the NABU workers).

The NABU audit identified the following problems in the organization of the Bureau:

- lack of priority in the investigation of crimes;

- the NABU does not pay sufficient attention to some categories of corruption crimes (for example, in the field of finance and related to money laundering);

- excessive bureaucracy in the middle of the Bureau, on which detectives spend a lot of time;

- high intensity of work with insufficient number of personnel;

- inefficiency of some internal divisions of the Bureau;

- gradual emotional "burnout" of the NABU employees and their desire to quit in the next 2-3 years;

- problems in the NABU team.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers proposed that the Verkhovna Rada allow only the Economic Security Bureau and the NABU to check business, and to deprive the National Police and the SSU of the function of financial control.

The number of the NABU staff was increased by 300 people at the request of partners.