NABU chief blames big corruption on dependent law enforcers, urges action on Prosecutor General

The Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) Semen Kryvonos emphasizes that the law enforcement system of Ukraine is not working properly, and this is the key factor in the functioning of corruption schemes in the state.

"If you ask me why all this happened (the Midas Operation regarding corruption in the energy sector - IF-U). Because of opaque regulation, because of the lack of a formed supervisory board, but most of all - because of a non-functioning law enforcement system. To the extent that it should work," he said on Tuesday during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy.

He expressed his belief that, taking into account the recommendations of the European Union,"relevant conclusions should be made regarding the Prosecutor General, introduced at the legislative level and competitions announced in order to strengthen the independence of law enforcement agencies."

At the same time, Kryvynos emphasized: "This is an EU framework, this is not a political statement from me. I am saying this based on the recommendations that the EU has voiced for Ukraine."

Addressing the members of the parliamentary committee, the NABU director called: "I ask you as people's deputies to pay more attention: without the institutional independence of the law enforcement system, it is a matter of time before the same backdoor grows."

According to Kryvynos, such circumstances arise because "it is possible to use law enforcement officers for their own purposes, to give illegal instructions to people who have no authority to do so - to do something, to collect, to initiate criminal cases, to fabricate - all this happens in an extra-procedural manner with political motives."