The Verkhovna Rada proposed removing five anti-corruption reforms: over €2 billion from the EU at risk

The Committee on Law Enforcement of the Verkhovna Rada recommended not including in the agenda of the next session five bills on the reform of the SBI, the powers of NABU, the independence of the Prosecutor General, and changes in the criminal process. According to the assessment of People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, over €2 billion in EU funding until the end of the year is tied to the implementation of the relevant anti-corruption commitments.

The committee made the decision at a meeting on August 19. According to Zheleznyak, the proposals not to include the bills in the agenda came from People's Deputies Maksym Buzhanskyi and Olha Savchenko.

These are five legislative initiatives:

• No. 13602 - reform of the State Bureau of Investigation, in particular changing the procedure for selecting the SBI Director and external evaluation of the bureau's work;
• No. 15334 - changes to the investigative jurisdiction of NABU, expanding the circle of high-ranking officials whose cases the bureau can investigate, as well as additional powers of the SAPO in international cooperation;
• No. 15343 - strengthening the independence of the position of the Prosecutor General, in particular introducing a competitive selection procedure;
• No. 15354 - changes to the rules for calculating limitation periods in criminal proceedings, in particular in corruption cases;
• No. 15333 - amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, which, among other things, should eliminate the automatic closure of criminal proceedings due to the expiration of pre-trial investigation periods - a mechanism known as part of the "Lozovyi amendments".

Zheleznyak claims that these reforms are part of a package of steps necessary for Ukraine to receive external funding. According to him, over €2 billion of EU funds until the end of 2026 is tied to these five anti-corruption initiatives.

"These are the very laws under which over 2 billion euros from the EU until the end of the year are tied," - stated the deputy.

At the same time, the law enforcement committee denies that the bills were rejected. They explained that the committee was only forming proposals for the agenda of the 16th session of the Verkhovna Rada and recommended that the parliament not include these five documents.

The committee also noted that at the time of consideration, the bills did not have an official label of European integration and there were no conclusions from the parliamentary committee on Ukraine's integration into the EU.

In addition, committee members referred to a number of legal remarks. In particular, the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine expressed remarks to the bill on SBI reform: it supported the direction of the reform itself but pointed out the need to refine the mechanism of external audit, guarantees of the bureau's independence, and procedures for appointing leadership.

Meanwhile, the updated Ukraine Plan approved by the European Union indeed envisages a series of reforms similar in content by the end of 2026. Among them are the entry into force of the law on SBI reform with the involvement of independent international experts in the selection of the head and evaluation of the bureau's work.

A separate requirement is the change of criminal procedural legislation: abolishing the automatic closure of cases due to the expiration of pre-trial investigation periods, removing procedural obstacles in top corruption cases, strengthening rules on limitation periods, and expanding NABU's investigative jurisdiction to positions with high corruption risks.

Therefore, the dispute currently concerns not so much the existence of the relevant commitments to the EU, but whether they must be fulfilled precisely through the bills submitted by deputies.

According to Zheleznyak, Anastasia Radina is preparing an appeal to the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada due to the committee's decision. The fate of the documents ultimately depends on what agenda the parliament approves.

Based on materials: Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on Law Enforcement, European Union