By Dan Peleschuk
(Reuters) -Ukraine’s parliament voted on Tuesday to tighten restrictions on two key anti-corruption agencies at the centre of the government’s reform drive, rolling back their autonomy in favour of tighter executive control.
Stamping out endemic graft is a key requirement for Kyiv to join the European Union as well as to secure billions in Western aid. Independent investigators have in recent months embarrassed senior officials with allegations of corruption.
Tuesday’s vote paves the way for the general prosecutor, appointed by the president, to gain more control over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, several lawmakers said.
On Monday, Kyiv’s domestic security agency arrested two NABU officials on suspicion of ties to Russia and conducted searches into agency employees on other grounds. Critics and the two agencies said the crackdown went too far.
No senior official has publicly commented on the reasoning for Tuesday’s draft law, which would allow the general prosecutor to transfer cases from the agencies and reassign prosecutors.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, NABU chief Semen Kryvonos urged Zelenskiy not to sign the bill, which he described as an attempt to “destroy” Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure.
Ukraine’s government bonds fell more than 2% in the international markets, with the bulk of the $20 billion of debt it restructured last year down over 1 cent at between 45 and 50 cents on the dollar.
PRESSURE ON AGENCIES
EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said she was “seriously concerned” by the vote.
“The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU’s independence is a serious step back,” she wrote on X, adding that rule of law was at “the very center” of accession talks.
NABU and SAPO were established after the 2014 Maidan revolution that toppled a pro-Russian president and set Kyiv on a Western course.
The two agencies have stepped up their work since Russia’s full-scale invasion, leveling charges against lawmakers, ministers and a former deputy head of Zelenskiy’s administration.
Anti-graft campaigners have been alarmed since authorities charged a top anti-corruption activist earlier this month with fraud and evading military service.
Critics have cast those charges as political retribution for exposing corrupt officials.
‘MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT’
A Western diplomat familiar with Ukraine’s reform effort described the developments as “the most dangerous moment” yet for the independence of anti-corruption authorities.
“The Ukrainian side is testing the limits more and more,” the person said, referring to the patience of Kyiv’s allies.
The government also faced criticism for rejecting the candidacy of an economic security chief and current NABU detective who was unanimously backed by an internationally supervised committee.
Many influential Ukrainians lashed out after Tuesday’s vote, saying it was a betrayal of Ukraine’s decade-long geopolitical ambition.
“What kind of European integration can we talk about now?!!!!” wrote Serhiy Prytula, a prominent crowdfunder for the military and one-time politician, on X.
“A bloody shame.”
(Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Mark Jones; editing by Kevin Liffey, Mark Heinrich and Bernadette Baum)
