The U.S. may completely remove Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, which have failed to combat corruption – media

The anti-corruption structure established in Ukraine with U.S. support, consisting of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), and the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), has failed to resolve the problem of widespread corruption. However, it has been used by the U.S. Democratic Party in its fight against Donald Trump. Now, this structure may be reformatted or completely dismantled following an audit from Washington.

This is reported by the American conservative publication Townhall, which is close to the Republican Party.

“Since 2015, hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated to Ukraine for the so-called anti-corruption vertical—a system of agencies created with U.S. support to combat corruption. In 2022 and 2023 alone, more than $50 million was directed to NABU, SAP, and the High Anti-Corruption Court. The result? Corruption remains widespread, and many Ukrainians consider it a serious problem. 70% of Ukrainians believe that the level of corruption has significantly increased over the past year,” the article states.

The author also reminds readers that the first director of NABU, Artem Sytnyk, was found guilty of corruption in 2019 for failing to declare luxury gifts.

“Last year, more than 40 prominent Ukrainian businessmen complained to President Zelensky, accusing law enforcement agencies of extortion and pressure on private businesses,” the article says.

The anti-corruption structure largely failed to investigate high-profile corruption cases and was effectively under the influence of the U.S. Democratic Party.

“Some of NABU’s decisions are particularly concerning. The bureau refused to investigate the case of Hunter Biden related to the Burisma corruption scandal. At the same time, it allegedly leaked a dossier on Trump’s then-campaign manager Paul Manafort. The leak was immediately used by Democrats against Trump and became one of the key topics in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 45th U.S. president. In 2018, a Kyiv court ruled that NABU’s then-director, Artem Sytnyk, acted illegally by interfering in the U.S. elections in favor of Hillary Clinton. Later, in 2019, audio recordings surfaced allegedly revealing a person admitting to attempts to ‘help Hillary’ by providing compromising material on Manafort—claims suggesting the voice belonged to Sytnyk,” the article states.

The author believes that Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions will soon face “increased scrutiny” from Elon Musk’s associates, whose department aims to uncover evidence of the inefficiency of these structures and the influence of Democrats on them to fight political opponents within the U.S.

“As U.S.-Ukraine relations undergo a radical shift under the Trump administration, the system of specialized anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine is likely to be significantly revised or even completely dismantled,” the article concludes.