Ukrainian lawmakers exposed getting cash for votes, anti-corruption agency says
Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies exposed a criminal group involving lawmakers who received cash in exchange for parliamentary votes, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said on Dec. 27.
The bureau carried out searches in the government district in central Kyiv, including at the offices of the Parliamentary Transport and Infrastructure Committee.
Investigators also searched offices at the Parkovyi Exhibition Center, a popular event space, where the President Volodymyr Zelensky's ruling party, Servant of the People, has its headquarters.
NABU said that the state security guards tried to obstruct the searches – for some time, they wouldn't let the investigators enter the government district, which has limited access since the start of the full-scale war in 2022. The State Security Administration later said that the guards had to check the identity of the witnesses, brought in by the NABU for the searches.
No details were released at the time of publication. The Kyiv Independent reached out to the NABU for comment.
Inside Zelensky's party, rumors about the nature of the searches spread fast.
"It may be related to the fact that some colleagues were wiretapped for two years," an MP from Zelensky's party told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
Earlier in December, Ukrainian news site Zn.ua reported, citing its sources, that NABU had wiretapped the office of Yuriy Kisel, a lawmaker for the Servant of the People party, and the head of the Parliamentary Transport Committee. The investigation concerned cash allegedly handed out to the ruling party lawmakers at the office.
Investigative journalists previously reported that Kisel was a close friend of Serhiy Shefir, Zelensky's long-time business partner and former aide. Kisel, Shefir, and Zelensky all come from Kryvyi Rih, a city in eastern Ukraine. Kisel and Shefir attended the same university there.
Earlier in 2025, Zelensky sold a house to Kisel's wife, according to his public declaration and media reports.
Kisel hasn't addressed the searches publicly. The Kyiv Independent reached out for a comment.
According to Zn.ua, the NABU had been secretly monitoring Kisel's office with listening devices for over two years. The Anti-Corruption Bureau hasn’t commented on these reports.
Allegations that lawmakers secretly receive cash as unofficial allowance or a way to encourage certain votes have circulated for years. The lawmakers' official salary is just under $1,000 per month.
In 2022, David Arakhamia, the leader of the Servant of the People faction, denied that lawmakers receive unofficial cash payments.
Two Ukrainian news sites, Ukrainska Pravda and Zn.ua, reported, citing its sources, that Kisel was officially made a suspect in a bribery case on Dec. 27, along with lawmakers Yevhen Pyvovarov and Ihor Nehulevskyi. Ukrainska Pravda added lawmaker Olga Savchenko to the list of alleged suspects.
Pyvovarov, Negulevskyi and Savchenko couldn't be contacted at the time of the publication, and have not addressed the allegations publicly.
If reports prove right, this will become a second corruption scandal to hit Zelensky's circle in less than two months.
In November, NABU and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) charged eight suspects in the case related to money laundering and embezzlement at Energoatom, the state-run nuclear power company. Timur Mindich, a close associate of the president, was named as the alleged ringleader.
The investigation took a toll on Zelensky's standing. According to a poll, published on Dec. 18, nearly 60% of those who know about the scandal blame Zelensky for it.
There are no indications that the new investigation is linked to the Energoatom case.
The new searches took place as Zelensky was en route to Florida, where on Dec. 28 he will meet with his U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss a revised peace proposal and security guarantees for Ukraine.
"The atmosphere (in the faction) isn't great. No one is expecting anything good from the new year," the lawmaker from the ruling party told the Kyiv Independent.
