Forty-one Ukrainian lawmakers face corruption suspicions

Forty-one members of the current convocation of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada have been formally served with notices of suspicion by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

The figure was disclosed by Oleksandr Klymenko, Head of the SAPO, in an interview with the state news agency Ukrinform.

According to Klymenko, a total of 79 current and former members of parliament have received notices of suspicion over the past decade, since the establishment of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions.

Last December, 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.

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 Centre, a popular event space, where the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ruling party, Servant of the People, has its headquarters.

Ukrainian media reported 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.

By Vafa Guliyeva