President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commissioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately inform the Council of Europe and the United Nations of the legislative powers of the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) to engage in international cooperation and direct communication with anticorruption authorities of foreign states.
The President noted that according to the Law of Ukraine "On the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine" and the Criminal Procedure Code, NABU was authorized to be a central body for international cooperation in the investigation of criminal proceedings, that is, the Bureau can directly communicate with international partners in the investigation of corruption offences, send and receive requests for international legal assistance.
However, due to the lack of political will on the part of the former President of Ukraine and in order to hinder the work of NABU, the exercise of the authority of the Bureau as regards the engagement in international cooperation was blocked.
"In order to execute the above mentioned powers, promptly notify depositaries of international multilateral treaties that starting from January 25, 2015, Ukraine recognizes the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine a central body (together with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine) in the field of international legal cooperation in criminal proceedings sending the corresponding statements to six relevant international multilateral treaties to which Ukraine is a party," the instructions of the President read.