Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency opens case over bribery in security service

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has opened a criminal investigation into corruption within the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), following claims made by businessman Serhiy Vahanyan.

NABU confirmed the registration of the case in response to a media inquiry, Caliber.Az reports via Ukrainian media.

Vahanyan has alleged that he paid bribes to Ivan Bakanov during the period when Bakanov was head of the SBU.

He also named Andriy Naumov, the former head of the SBU’s internal security department, claiming that the two men turned sanctions imposed by Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council into what he described as a “private business project”.

The businessman said he paid money from profits generated by grain exports in exchange for assurances that his businesses would face no problems from regulatory authorities. He claimed that some of the alleged payments took the form of expensive gifts, including luxury furniture, cars and jewellery, while others were made in cash.

Vahanyan further alleged that the amounts involved reached millions of dollars each month, at times rising to as much as $10m. He claimed that Naumov effectively ran the SBU, while Bakanov acted as an intermediary between Naumov and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to Vahanyan, individuals linked to Naumov continue to wield influence within the security services despite personnel changes.

Bakanov has denied the allegations, describing them as an attempt by former president Petro Poroshenko to destabilise President Zelenskyy’s parliamentary majority.

By Aghakazim Guliyev