"The Year of Building"

Last year, the primary task for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine was to preserve its independence. This year, the task is different and more difficult: to convert this independence into capacity. Independence that delivers no results depreciates faster than it can be protected.

First. There are tools whose necessity is long overdue: an independent forensic institution and the right to autonomous wiretapping. Both decisions determine the quality of investigations and the level of the anti-corruption bodies' dependence on external factors. What is crucial here is not the mere fact of a new institution appearing, but its real independence—otherwise, we will merely change the address of the problem.

Second. Procedural legislation still contains loopholes that allow for liability evasion by delaying cases and exceeding deadlines. Closing these gaps is our consistent position and part of the commitments agreed upon by Ukraine with the European Commission. This is no longer an internal discussion, but a subject of an international agreement with a defined deadline.

Third. The volume and complexity of proceedings outstrip resources. This is not a matter of privileges for a single body, but of the throughput capacity of the entire system: the number of detectives and analysts, technical capabilities, and the security of people working on ‌high-risk cases.

Fourth. The mandate of trust granted to the anti-corruption system by society is not open-ended. It is maintained solely through daily effective work—and nothing else.

The fight against corruption has become the basis of a new social contract in Ukraine. Cluster "Fundamentals," with which Ukraine began negotiations on joining the European Union, opens first and closes last. This is an accurate description of our work as well: it began earlier than other reforms and will conclude later than them. It is from this understanding that we proceed when planning the next half of the year.