It is perhaps the biggest bribery case in the country’s judicial annals. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) on May 16 charged the president of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev and another member of the court, whose name remains confidential, with bribery of approximately 2.7 million dollars.

Both suspects have been arrested. If found guilty they face 8-12 years in prison. According to the head of NABU Semen Krivonos, the case involves judges, the leadership of the Supreme Court, as well as intermediaries of the Finance and Credit corporate group of the Ukrainian businessman Kostyadin Sevago, who is currently abroad.

A court hearing scheduled for March 15, the outcome of which was of interest to Sevagos, had been postponed “to give time so that specific amounts can be collected and the relevant agreements made”, explained Semen Krivonos. Based on the figures so far, the mediators were going to collect from Sevago $900,000 and the members of the Supreme Court about $1.8 million.

$2.7 million for a judgment?

On April 19, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the businessman, reinstating a 2002 contract. The contract involved the purchase and sale of 40.19% of the shares of a mining mine in Ukraine’s Poltava region, owned by Ferrexpo, the largest iron ore exporter of the country. The shares of the mine were to be transferred to four former joint stock companies.

The suspects reportedly received the first part of their “reward” on May 3 and the second on May 15. “The leadership of the Supreme Court was caught in the act,” says NABU head Semen Krivonos. The police found a significant amount of money, as well as evidence, in the apartments, houses and offices of the suspects.”

In addition, representatives of NABU and SAP presented recorded conversations between those involved. Officials admitted that only two people have been arrested so far. However, they clarified that the involvement of other judges in the case is still being investigated. According to the assessment of the head of SAP Oleksandr Klimenko, it is possible that the action of the two suspects is part of an even larger corruption network within the Ukrainian justice system.

International partners expect an independent judiciary

In the meantime, at a meeting of the Supreme Court on May 16 in Kyiv, the members declared themselves “shocked” and pledged to take all the necessary measures to bring about a “cleansing”. In addition, 140 of the 142 judges present expressed in a secret vote their distrust of the president of the court Vsevolod Knyazev. Until a new president is elected, Dmytro Luspenchimk, who has the longest term, will hold the office.

“I am surprised that many Ukrainians cannot believe the existence of corruption cases in the Supreme Court. Since 2017, we have pointed out to the Social Council for Integrity, which closely monitors the staffing of the Supreme Court, that there is a problem,” the head of the Ukrainian DEJURE Foundation Mykhailo Sernakov emphasizes in an interview with DW.

Kateryna Rysenko from the Ukrainian branch of Transparency International tells DW about a serious blow to Ukraine. He says that the independent judiciary will be called upon to play an important role in the reconstruction of the country after the end of the war. “This is what the Ukrainian society is waiting for, as well as our partners abroad. If we want international financial support for the reconstruction of the country, then we will have to prove that our justice system is able to punish all offenders who abuse the financial aid channeled to Ukraine.”