Ukraine needs to establish the Specialized Anti-Corruption Court, the United States Embassy and the EU Delegation to Ukraine wrote in a joint statement.
”Ukraine`s success in its anti-corruption efforts is critical to delivering results demanded by the people on the Maidan as well as to attracting the foreign direct investment that is needed to support Ukraine`s economy,” reads the statement published on Facebook.
”We commend the increasingly effective efforts of Ukraine`s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor`s Office to deliver on their mandates,” the diplomats wrote.
Welcoming the court`s taking action early March 7, the U.S. Embassy and EU Delegation noted that ”the last several days underscore the need to establish a specialized anti-corruption court.”
”These events also highlight why the pending NABU audit must be independent, transparent and lead to an objective analysis of NABU`s operations over the last year,” the diplomats concluded.
Earlier, overnight Tuesday, March 7, Judge of Kyiv`s Solomyansky District Court Oleksandr Bobrovnyk has ruled that Chairman of Ukraine`s State Fiscal Service (SFS) Roman Nasirov, who is charged with abuse of power, should be remanded in custody for 60 days as a measure of restraint.
Nasirov is charged under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or misuse of office). NABU suspects that the SFS-approved installment plan for gas royalties payment was part of the scheme by MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko`s firms on misappropriation of funds from PJSC Ukrgasvydobuvanniya in the amount of UAH 740.07 million. The damage to the state budget as a result of Nasirov`s alleged action is estimated at UAH 2 billion.
According to the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor`s Office, the investigation had been launched on December 4, 2015.
On Thursday, March 2, the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Special Anti-corruption Prosecutor`s Office of Ukraine (SAPU) held a number of raids in the State Fiscal Service`s offices, including its head office.
On March 3, the Cabinet suspended Nasirov for the period of the probe.
