- Unreformed law enforcement agencies are pressuring the anti-corruption infrastructure and civil society
Case No1. The Security Service of Ukraine (the SSU) interfered in the competitive selection of the Director of the Bureau of Economic Security (the ESBU).
Case No2. In July, 2025 the State Bureau of Investigations (the SBI) filed a notice of suspicion to the activist, Vitaliy Shabunin. This case is an attempt at political pressure on an activist who highlights corruption issues, particularly in the sensitive area of defense during wartime.
Case No3. Groundless searches of NABU detectives, as well as cases opened against them. As a result, the NABU detective Ruslan Mahamedrasulov has been unlawfully held in a pre-trial detention center by the SSU for over two months.
Case No4. There is a systemic attempt to restrict reformed law enforcement authorities through legislation: for example the draft law No12414 (regarding dismantling of NABU and SAPO); the draft law No12439 (regarding the initiation of proceedings subject to the ESBU based on decisions of prosecution leadership).
Case No5. When prosecutors are caught taking bribes exceeding $3 million, the Office of the Prosecutor General frames it as alleged pressure from NABU over an investigation involving their detective, Ruslan Magomedrasulov. Meanwhile, civil society expects disciplinary proceedings and appropriate sanctions in such cases. It shows the internal crisis within the law enforcement sector, which, in wartime, should have united against the internal enemy – corruption that drains the defense budget.
Public awareness of these issues is essential. Therefore, it is vital to support civil society organizations that, despite ongoing turbulence and political stagnation, remain capable of monitoring and preventing democratic backsliding.
2. Unwillingness of the government to present transparent competitions within
the General Prosecutor`s Office, the National Police of Ukraine (the NPU), the
State Bureau of Investigations
The General Prosecutor`s Office
The procedure for appointing the Prosecutor General remains politicized and
is carried out based on loyalty rather than professionalism. Such practice does
not comply with OECD standards.
Since June 2025, the Prosecutor General is Ruslan Kravchenko, who previously was part of the presidential administrative apparatus in the regions. This has resulted in the Prosecutor General being involved in exerting pressure on activists and on the NABU. The Prosecutor General personally signs indictments for the NABU detectives and forms prosecutor teams of 40+ members – a level of involvement that is unprecedented.
The NPU
Despite the dissolution of the militia and the creation of the National Police, the largest law
enforcement agency remains fully under the political control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and the Cabinet of Ministers.
Although transparent competitive procedures for selecting NPU leadership are part of Ukraine’s strategic documents (State Anticorruption Programme 2023–2025, Rule of Law Roadmap) and an EU indicator for progress toward the EU, the Government continues to prioritize political control.
In this context, draft law No13716 does not include a mandatory integrity assessment, lacks a defined competition procedure and list of positions, and leaves all decisions to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The SBI
The Enlargement Report for 2024 recommended till the end of 2025 to introduce an
independent and competitive selection procedure in the SBI with the meaningful involvement
of independent experts. However, the Ukrainian government has ignored this requirement
in the way of the EU integration process.
According to the Plan of measures to implement the recommendations of the EU Commission presented in the Enlargement Report (approved on 28, March 2025 by the CMU), there is no obligation to introduce a competitive procedure for senior positions with independent experts – only an intention to digitalize the procedure, without any details.
Meanwhile, a group of members of parliament (Zhelezniak, Radina, etc.) registered draft law No13602 on August 6, 2025, aimed at introducing competitive selection within the SBI. However, we do not believe there is sufficient political will to implement it.
Thus, there is a need to depoliticize law enforcement agencies and ensure a merit-based selection process grounded in professional achievements, as recommended by the EU and the OECD.
3. Ensuring the ESBU reform proceeds efficiently and achieves its intended outcomes
With Oleksandr Tsyvinsky appointed as Director of the ESBU, the Bureau now faces the ambitious tasks of
advancing reforms and safeguarding its institutional independence.
- Complete the full re-certification process for 1,240 ESBU employees within 18 months.
- The law stipulates that the certification process shall be conducted by a commission comprising 6 members appointed by the Director and 6 members nominated by international organizations that have provided international technical assistance to the Bureau. In this context, the priority is to identify a sufficient number of honest and qualified candidates to serve on these commissions.
- Insufficient state funding for the ESBU in 2026 prevents the hiring of additional personnel and hinders the agency’s development.
The effective implementation of the reform may be hindered by threats to the independence of the ESBU, highlighting the need for continued in-depth civil society monitoring and public awareness.
4. Even though draft law No12414 was pushed back because it crossed a clear
red line, there are still many attempts to undermine the independence of the
anti-corruption infrastructure by minor changes. And it’s clear that people won’t
protest over every amendment.
Over this year, there have been numerous attempts by members of Parliament to rollback reforms:
- Draft law No10242 aims to strengthen criminal liability for journalists, investigators, etc. (8 years) for the dissemination of information from electronic registers. Its move posed a threat to freedom of speech and the fight against corruption.
- Law No4576-IX registered by Ihor Fris. This law aims to conceal information about the owners of apartments, houses, and land plots. This may shut down opportunities for investigators and the civil society to uncover officials’ property, dozens of land plots registered under relatives, etc.
- In March 2025, a proposed amendment to draft law No 12374-d attempted to strip the NACP of its core powers to verify public officials’ assets. The initiative posed a direct threat to a vital mechanism of anti-corruption control. MEZHA mobilised civil society to resist the change and played a key role in successfully blocking the proposal.
- Draft law No13271-2, registered in May 2025, poses another threat to the anti-corruption infrastructure. It proposes the same harmful changes that would make lifestyle monitoring ineffective by limiting the monitoring period to just four months and restricting it to the official alone – thus preventing the identification of illicit assets registered to close associates or family members.
- As well as those mentioned in Clause 1 above – draft laws No12414, 12439.
All of this highlights a strong need to monitor all draft laws very carefully and a crucial
importance of supporting civil society in this process.