The Verkhovna Rada passed a bill to reduce the powers of NABU and SAP, transferring control to the prosecutor general

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed draft law No. 12414 in its entirety, including amendments that “effectively eliminated all independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).”

This was reported by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, an MP from the Holos party.

A total of 263 MPs voted in favor, while 13 voted against.

Zheleznyak and Oleksiy Honcharenko, an MP from European Solidarity, stated that President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to sign the bill as early as today. Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk signed the bill less than an hour after its adoption.

Following the vote, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos held a briefing, urging Zelensky not to sign the law.

Previously, NABU had warned that the new amendments “essentially destroy SAP’s independence and place the activities of NABU and SAPO under the control of the Prosecutor General,” highlighting that:

• The Prosecutor General would gain access to all NABU cases or could grant such access to any other prosecutor;

• They would have the authority to issue binding written instructions to NABU detectives, and, if not followed, reassign cases to other agencies;

• They could close investigations at the request of the defense;

• They would have the sole power to resolve jurisdictional disputes;

• They would independently sign indictments against top officials;

• The SAPO head would lose the right to be included in the prosecutorial teams — that decision would rest solely with the Prosecutor General.