Ukraine to retrieve over 3 million euros in corruption compensation from abroad for first time
Ukraine will return 3.37 million euros ($3.95 million) in compensation from a foreign company involved in a corruption scheme for the first time, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced on Sept. 5.
A joint investigation by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) found that the state-enterprise "Polygraph Plant Ukraine" purchased equipment from a French company at inflated prices through a shell company based in Estonia.
"The former director of the state-owned enterprise received an illegal benefit in the form of copyrights to the designs of the security elements of documents," NABU wrote in a statement.
A Paris court approved the transfer of funds on Sept. 3 following an agreement reached between the French company involved in the scheme and France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office on July 8.
The proceedings involved eight suspects, including the former head of "Polygraph Plant Ukraine."
"This result was made possible thanks to a joint investigative team of NABU, SAPO, law enforcement officers from France and Estonia under the auspices of Eurojust," NABU's statement said.
On July 22, the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) approved amendments that granted the prosecutor general new powers over cases led by SAPO and investigations led by NABU, effectively destroying their independence.
President Volodymyr Zelensky later that day signed the bill into law despite calls for him to veto the changes.
Protestors gathered in major cities across the country, including Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa, over the course of several days, demanding that the law be repealed.
Amid widespread disapproval, Zelensky on July 31 signed a law passed by the parliament that restored the independence of SAPO and NABU.
In the Verkhovna Rada's first livestreamed vote since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, 331 lawmakers approved the bill in two back-to-back readings, with none voting against it.
