Andrii Borovyk: This new law gives the prosecutor general of the country more control over the two institutions established over the last 10 years with the support of our Western partners: the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, which conducts investigations, and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Additionally, this law also limited their independence, meaning that the general prosecutor can now see which cases they are investigating and decide whether to investigate them or refer them to another law enforcement agency. 

Additionally, top-level state officials can now only receive suspicions that it’s part of the criminal process from the general prosecutor, which means that the autonomy of these two institutions is now quite limited. And this autonomy is significant because only in this way can these two institutions effectively combat top-level corruption and avoid concerns about any kind of leakage or political influence.

Not exactly. The prosecutor general is nominated by the president and appointed by the parliament. So it’s, let’s say, both.

People are mad because of the way it was done, the speed at which it was done and the fact that the second part occurred after the Revolution of Dignity.

Yes, back in 2014, when it was completed, we were building these institutions, along with numerous other reforms we implemented. But these two are dealing with cases where corruption has already occurred and investigating some of the highest-profile cases. And people just remember what it was like during the [Viktor] Yanukovych times.

Yes, right. They don’t want to see that level of influence. They see the results of these two institutions, probably, because they’re investigating members of parliament, as well as ministers, deputy ministers and judges. So, they have already proven that for them, the rule of law is not just two random words. And they see that everybody should be accountable.

On Monday, this week, a couple of suspicions were issued to detectives of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. So, this happened. However, I believe that some individuals in the political elite decided to use this as an excuse to do what they did. But the situation is developing now, even at this moment, over the last hour. And I think it would be interesting to know that President Zelenskyy just made a statement less than an hour ago, stating that they are preparing a new bill to bring back a decent level of independence to these two anti-corruption bodies.

For me, it means that we are still a democracy because you see people on the street, and that maybe the president — I’m saying maybe, because we haven’t seen the draft bill submitted yet — can hear the citizens.

I must say that if we look back further in time, to the last 11 years, Ukraine today and Ukraine in 2013, the last year of the pro-Russian Yanukovych presidency are just two different countries in terms of corruption. We have made significant progress in the Corruption Perception Index, an index developed by our organization based on our methodology, not personally by us. And we earned more than 10 points over this period. And if we compare it to other 170 countries, we will be in the top 15 [of countries that are] progressing the most.

Stop doing such things as they did on Tuesday. If they would take at least some pause to reconsider such ridiculous steps and think twice, maybe study public opinion more thoroughly and not rush to make amendments in such speedy procedures, but instead holding more consultations and discussions before making a final decision, there will be more trust. So, just talking to their people is all that’s needed.