New legislation can allow corrupt officials to buy their way of punishment, – reports
Source: Yaroslav Zheleznya/Telegram
Ukraine’s parliament has passed Law No. 11340 in its first reading, which updates punishment and plea bargain policies for corruption-related cases. The legislation, perceived by many as having “corruption risks,” received votes from 231 MPs.
The amendment introduces reduced penalties and shorter probation periods for corrupt officials found guilty in corruption trials, while making the disclosure of accomplices non-mandatory.
Instead, it proposes that corrupt officials pay compensation and fines up to 204 million hryvnias as part of an updated plea bargain scheme.
The Anti-Corruption Committee of Ukraine’s parliament argues that officials facing corruption charges may now use updated plea bargains as a loophole to avoid severe punishment and protect their accomplices from justice.
Vitaliy Shabunin, Director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, stated that the draft law avoids the confiscation of suspects’ property.
“You steal a billion, get arrested for a theft of 100 million, compensate for it, pay an additional 200 million fine, and you can enjoy life with the remaining 700 million,” said the anti-corruption expert.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.