What NABU and SAPO's first-half 2026 figures count, and what they say blocks them

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) reported on 10 August that 107 people were served with notices of suspicion in the first half of 2026, 106 were brought to trial, and 55 guilty verdicts of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) against 76 people came into force, according to their results release. The release headline counts 360 new cases. This explainer sets out what the figures measure, the cases behind them and the legal changes the agencies say they need.

What the figures count

The three headline numbers sit at different stages of a case. A notice of suspicion is a procedural step, and NABU's releases note that under Article 62 of the Constitution a person is presumed not guilty until a court finds otherwise, as in its release of 12 May. The trial count comes next: the agencies' report page gives 56 indictments involving 106 defendants. Verdicts come last, and the 55 verdicts against 76 people are those of the HACC that entered into force. Because the stages run on different timelines, the three counts describe different sets of cases.

The report page adds money figures. It puts the overall economic impact at more than UAH 21.8 billion, about US$545 million, and lists 23 civil forfeiture claims worth more than UAH 120 million. It also says more than US$69 million from criminal proceedings, plea agreements, forfeited bail and other procedural mechanisms was transferred to the Defence Forces, according to the report. The page text does not say how the overall economic impact figure is built.

The cases behind the numbers

Energy features prominently. On 12 May, NABU and SAPO served notices of suspicion on seven members of an organised group, among them a former head of the Presidential Office, a former Deputy Prime Minister and a businessman described as a leader of a criminal organisation exposed in November 2025 in the Midas operation, over the alleged laundering of more than UAH 460 million between 2021 and 2025, according to the 12 May release. The money allegedly went into a luxury residential complex in the village of Kozyn, Kyiv region, partly financed with funds from corruption schemes at Energoatom.

The half-year release also lists a notice of suspicion served on the former minister of energy for money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation, and a suspicion against a former deputy head of the Office of the President of misappropriating more than UAH 141 million. In defence, it cites embezzlement of military assets in wartime, the theft of UAH 32 million from the Ukroboronprom state concern and a US$1 million bribe allegedly demanded to finalise an FPV drone procurement contract. The case against the head of a parliamentary faction, exposed in January for allegedly trying to bribe MPs, went to court.

On convictions, the release says the HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the verdict against the former head of the State Fiscal Service, Roman Nasirov, who was found guilty of involvement in the so-called Onyshchenko gas scheme and sentenced to six years in prison. The court also approved a plea agreement with former Supreme Court head Vsevolod Kniaziev, who received five years in prison with confiscation of property and funds. An MP and her assistant were sentenced to two years in prison over a bribe for illegally crossing the state border, and a Kyiv lawyer received four years and six months for attempting to bribe NABU and SAPO employees. An organiser of a scheme that caused losses to a state agro-industrial enterprise was extradited from Germany.

What the agencies say blocks them

The report page says investigations are hampered by systemic obstacles and lists four changes: an independent forensic expert institution; repeal of the Criminal Procedure Code amendments that allow cases to be closed on procedural grounds; an effective extradition framework; and powers for SAPO to register proceedings involving MPs and to form joint investigative teams with international partners, according to the report.

The forensic request resurfaced on 16 October, when NABU served notices of suspicion on experts of a Ministry of Justice institute for allegedly fabricating evidence and repeated its call for an independent forensic institution, the bureau said in a release.

The pace of reform is also on the agenda of Ukraine's creditors and prospective EU partners. IMF staff say in their July report that the authorities remain committed to governance and anti-corruption reform but that progress has slowed significantly in several areas, citing institutional capacity constraints, uneven ownership and difficulty passing legislation. The European Council said in its conclusions of 15 and 16 October that aspiring members must continue reforms, notably on the rule of law.