The EU’s €90 billion ($97 billion) Ukraine Facility has one non-negotiable governance condition. NABU and SAPO must stay independent. NABU is the National Anti-Corruption Bureau; SAPO—the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office—handles its cases in court.
The blunt public assault on NABU’s independence that failed in July 2025 has given way to something quieter.
In mid-March, sources told Ukrainska Pravda, Ukraine’s government drafted a Cabinet resolution that could have removed NABU director Semen Kryvonos. The Cabinet never voted on it. The blunt public assault on NABU’s independence that failed in July 2025 has given way to something quieter.
The audit draft
Ukrainska Pravda reported on 24 March that Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, initiated the Cabinet draft without explanation. An audit had already taken place last year; the bureau was working through its recommendations. However, under Ukrainian law, a negative audit finding is grounds to dismiss NABU’s director.
“The draft resolution that Kachka wanted to introduce was a big surprise for us.”
“Last year, there was an audit,” a source within NABU told Ukrainska Pravda. “Experts gave us recommendations for improving the work—we started implementing them. The draft resolution that Kachka wanted to introduce was a big surprise for us. In the end, it all came to nothing—the government never considered the document. But it’s unclear what will happen next.”
The resolution has been quietly dropped with no public explanation.
A pattern, not a single draft
Since mid-January, the agencies’ own media monitoring detected coordinated attacks in pro-government Telegram channels, Ukrainska Pravda found. Messages targeted NABU and SAP leadership personally—claiming improper financial disclosures and illegal enrichment. Bureau sources said the campaigns appeared to be moderated by government-aligned forces.
NABU’s suspicions against MPs are why parliament won’t pass IMF-required laws.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian officials have been privately blaming NABU for the Rada’s legislative failures. Their argument to Western partners: NABU’s suspicions against MPs are why parliament won’t pass IMF-required laws.
The Rada’s paralysis is real—but the explanation is strained. On 10 March, parliament voted down Bill 14025—an IMF structural benchmark on taxing digital platforms—with only 168 votes. The threshold was 226.
NABU’s investigations don’t explain why the president’s own parliamentary faction can’t find the votes.
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak warned that 25 program milestones—IMF, World Bank, and EU Facility—won’t be met by end of March. That puts €7 billion ($8.1 billion) in Q1 disbursements at risk.
What officials haven’t told Western partners: NABU’s investigations don’t explain why the president’s own parliamentary faction can’t find the votes.
NABU’s independence is a Western problem too
That €7 billion is a tranche problem—legislative milestones missed in a single quarter. The NABU independence problem is bigger. The EU Ukraine Facility ties all its disbursements to governance benchmarks, including anti-corruption performance.
The EU Ukraine Facility ties all its disbursements to governance benchmarks.
The mechanism proved real last July, when parliament briefly subordinated NABU and SAP to the Prosecutor General’s Office. The EU froze aid disbursements—not one tranche but across the program. Street protests forced a reversal within a week.
“Aren’t you tired of feeding people garbage?” Ukrainian parliament reverses anti-corruption law after street protests
NABU’s most consequential period
The current pressure follows NABU’s most politically consequential period. Operation Midas exposed an alleged $100 million kickback scheme at state nuclear operator Energoatom.
The investigation reached Zelenskyy’s own chief of staff. Andriy Yermak resigned following searches by NABU at his residence in late November 2025. Spy chief Kyrylo Budanov replaced him as head of the Presidential Office in January.
The pressure is “definitely keeping NABU and SAP employees in a state of toxic tension.”
Ukrainska Pravda’s analysis found no evidence of a “systematic and planned attack against the anti-corruption bodies.” But it concluded the pressure is “definitely keeping NABU and SAP employees in a state of toxic tension.”
The last time the government moved openly against NABU, the streets answered. A secret audit draft, Telegram smear campaigns, and diplomatic deflection are harder to protest.
