The NABU audit that could cost Kryvonos his job has not begun: SAP and BEB audits also not launched, - lawyer

The legally mandated annual audit of NABU for 2026 year did not begin within the prescribed timeframes. This was reported by the head of the NGO "Public Oversight Council," lawyer Oleg Shram, who published responses from government bodies to information requests. Similarly, audits of the SAP and the Bureau of Economic Security have not been started.

The first report of the external independent assessment of NABU’s effectiveness was approved on 2 May 2025. By law, the Cabinet of Ministers was supposed to decide to start forming the next commission no later than 30 days before the anniversary of the report’s approval — that is, no later than 2 April 2026. However, this did not happen.

As the Government Secretariat reported, in March NABU proposed changing the law to conduct the audit every two years instead of annually, citing recommendations of the previous audit commission. Since then, the Ministry of Justice has been drafting a bill to change the audit procedures for specialized anti-corruption bodies.

Meanwhile, in the spring the government was already preparing to launch the NABU audit under the existing rules. On 24 March, Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka publicly confirmed, among other things, that the initiative to conduct the audit was an implementation of legal requirements. Later it became known, however, that the draft resolution on the NABU audit was not considered by the government.

Deputy Director of NABU Polina Lysenko at that time said the Bureau was interested in a thorough review. According to her, the audit "should be a tool for development, not a formality just to tick a box." She also acknowledged the need to comply with the legislative requirement.

After this exchange of statements between NABU and the Cabinet of Ministers — the audit still has not begun.

For NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, this delay may be significant: the director’s continuation in office depends directly on the audit results.

The evaluation is carried out by an independent commission, and the Cabinet ensures the start of the procedure. The preparation of legislative changes, which the Government Secretariat and the Ministry of Justice have reported, does not cancel the existing legal requirement. At the same time, in the government response published by Oleg Shram, there is no mention of plans to comply with the law or to schedule this year’s audit.

The situation with the SAP is similar. The law provides that an external independent audit should take place every two years. However, it has not been conducted even once. In the Office of the Prosecutor General’s response dated 23 October, it was stated that “orders to organize the review and to form the commission were not registered, and appeals to international organizations regarding candidates for its composition were not sent.”

The appointment of members of that commission is within the powers of the Prosecutor General.

A similar situation exists with the audit of the Bureau of Economic Security. Shram reminded that a year has passed since the appointment of Olexandr Tsyvinsky as director, and the legally prescribed review time has arrived. However, in the Government Secretariat’s response dated 22 October it was noted that the issue of preparing the audit and deciding to begin forming the commission regarding the BEB is still being "worked on."

Shram separately appealed to First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Finance Committee Yaroslav Zheleznyak, urging him to consider the failure to meet the legal requirement at a committee meeting or at the temporary investigative commission he chairs. He also proposed holding a joint session with the Anti-Corruption Committee headed by Anastasiia Radina to sort out the delays in the reviews.

"This is your reform, you wrote and promoted the corresponding bill," Shram emphasized.