Ukraine court allows anti-corruption detectives to review minister’s calls

A Kyiv district court ruled on Aug. 15 to allow detectives with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to review the phone calls of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov in their investigation of his purchase of 6,000 backpacks at an inflated price from a firm linked to his son, Oleksandr. The ruling was posted on the court’s website. A video was leaked in February in which the minister’s son is cutting a deal with the minister’s former deputy to supply backpacks to the ministry’s police units.

Zenon Zawada: We had expected that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau would concentrate its investigations on politically convenient targets, largely middle-rung bureaucrats. Yet in recent weeks, its director, Artem Sytnyk, has demonstrated that he doesn’t intend for the agency to accommodate the nation’s top officials. The recent conflict with the prosecutor’s office is evidence that he aims for his bureau to be taken seriously, both in Ukraine and beyond its borders.

In its brief activity (little less than a year), the bureau has also transferred highly sensitive criminal cases to other law enforcement authorities, indicating it has a political game of its own. And we believe it’s likely that the current investigation could end in no criminal charges being filed. The bureau likely felt an obligation to open the case because of the leaked video, which was broadcast on television.

Indeed, charges against the Interior Minister would cause an earthquake in Ukrainian politics. But even if that doesn’t happen (we don’t expect it), for the first time Ukraine has an independent law enforcement authority that is working with the public in keeping the key officials on alert, if not prosecuted or convicted. These are small, but weighty steps towards Ukraine’s Euro-integration.