Ukraine anti-graft agency raids energy sector
KIEV
Ukraine's anti-corruption agency said Monday it was conducting large-scale raids targeting the country's energy sector, an operation that comes after months of infighting over Kiev's anti-graft efforts.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said the operation, carried out in collaboration with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, was designed "to expose corruption" in the key sector.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had tried this summer to strip powers from both agencies via a law removing their independence, a move that triggered rare public backlash and the largest protests since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine has long been plagued by corruption, which has been the focus of public protests throughout its 30-year independence.
Reforms were introduced after the revolution of 2014 but there are fears that Zelensky's abortive bid this summer to change the law governing the anti-graft agencies could undermine Ukraine's ambitions to join the European Union.
The president's office said in the summer the law aimed to improve the functioning of the two bodies.
But it scrapped the legislation after public outcry and concerns from Kiev's European partners.
NABU said a "high-level criminal organisation" had "established a large-scale corruption scheme to influence strategic enterprises in the state sector," including major nuclear power provider Energoatom.
It published photographs showing bags stashed full of dollar and euro banknotes but provided no further details about the operation.
