At a time when Ukraine suffers from regular power outages due to Russian shelling of energy infrastructure facilities, every Ukrainian is trying to save electricity and help the military, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has decided to spend UAH 923,000 on the purchase of four air conditioners for its central office. This is stated in the tender posted on the Prozorro system.
When the country is undergoing general mobilization, the state is spending billions on the security and defense sector, spending almost a million hryvnias on four air conditioners looks not just inappropriate, but a failure from the point of view of reputation and common sense. This is not just an expense. This is an alarming signal: when an anti-corruption body has budgets in the millions, but spends them not on fighting the aggressor and rooting out corruption, but on the personal comfort of its employees. Instead, Ukrainians are in constant blackouts.
The need to purchase air conditioners is not explained publicly – whether it is related to repairs, or to changing the heating system, or to some other technical redevelopment. But the fact remains: almost a million for comfort, while the country is in austerity mode and all efforts are aimed at repelling Russian aggression.
But the NABU decided not to limit itself to the purchase of air conditioners and announced the search for a chief specialist of the service department in the Personnel Department. The list of responsibilities includes support for service, preparation of orders (in particular with the “DSK” stamp), maintenance of personal files and even organization of military registration and reservation of employees. At first glance, nothing unusual. But at a time when state structures are reducing staff and optimizing expenses, such actions by the NABU look at least strange. This once again demonstrates that the anti-corruption body lives in its own reality, far from the one in which ordinary Ukrainians live.
NABU was created to expose high-level corruption, and should be an example of thrift — especially in times of war. But such actions undermine the already shattered trust in the institution. In a situation where the state asks citizens to turn off electrical appliances, reduce consumption, and businesses actually survive due to daily restrictions on electricity supply — NABU’s decision looks like disrespect for state resources and a complete mockery of ordinary citizens.
