The Security Service of Ukraine initiated 983 criminal proceedings and served notices of suspicion to 1294 subjects of corruption crimes during 2020 and for 6 months of 2021.

This was claimed by the SBU Head Ivan Bakanov at the coordination meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies related to preventing and combating corruption.

"Corruption is one of the mechanisms by which the aggressor country tries to undermine the foundations of our state. In a hybrid war, this weapon is as effective as tanks or planes. Taking into account the scale of the threat, the Security Service pays special attention to fighting corruption." emphasized Ivan Bakanov.

In total, there are 803 corruption crimes, such as taking a bribe, abuse of authority or office, misappropriation or embezzlement, and so on.

336 officials were also served a notice of suspicion, and 39 officials have already been convicted.

In particular, the most resonant examples are the serving of suspicion notices to: the ex-head of the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration, who demanded a bribe of USD 48,476 (UAH 1.3 m.); two citizens who received USD 3.5 m. (UAH 93m. 859,069) ostensibly for assisting in the appointment of the head of the region; ARMA leaders, who seized almost USD 400,000 (UAH 8 m.) previously seized by the court and managed by the Agency; the ex-head of Ministry of Infrastructure, whose actions caused state budget losses totaling USD 1.1 m. (UAH 30 m.).

In addition, SBU served notices of suspicion to another 345 persons who are equated with officials authorized to perform the functions of state or local government or perform organizational and administrative duties in legal entities of private law. 54 such persons have already been convicted.

Considerable attention is paid to combating corruption in law enforcement and judiciary systems. In particular, 614 notices of suspicion were served to employees of tax and customs authorities, the National Police and the National Guard, the defense sector, migration and executive services, the Ministry of Defense and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, etc.

The SBU Head reported that the Security Service of Ukraine neutralized 36 organized criminal groups, participants of which were officials of various levels.

At the same time, the actions of law enforcement officers predictably provoke a burst of accusations from the defendants in criminal cases. As an example, the SBU Head cited the situation in Kyiv.

"Some representatives of local authorities, including Kyiv, sometimes like to talk about political pressure. But let's face the facts: only since 2020, 21 criminal proceedings have been initiated in relation to crimes in Kyiv municipal authorities and enterprises subordinate to local authorities. And almost half of departments of Kyiv City State Administration are connected to criminal cases. So, in fact, it has nothing to do with the politics. We just do our job. And there is the only way to avoid searches – you must not break the law", - added the SBU Head.