He held the position until September of last year, when his dismissal was announced before a major reshuffle of Zelenskyy’s Cabinet. He moved to the Bavarian town of Starnberg shortly after.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, reports of the NABU-requested search of Shurma’s home infuriated the Ukrainian president, who objected to the “international scale” of its investigations. The publication claimed this development was a significant factor in Zelenskyy’s decision to sign a controversial law earlier this month that placed the anti-corruption agency under executive control.
The legislation, which granted the presidentially-appointed prosecutor general direct authority over NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, led thousands of demonstrators to protest in Kyiv and prompted leaders in Brussels to warn Zelenskyy that he was endangering Ukraine’s EU ambitions.
Reacting to the backlash, Zelenskyy quickly advanced a bill to restore independence to the agencies through the country’s parliament and signed it into law this past Thursday.
NABU has accused 71 current and former Ukrainian MPs of corruption and has not hesitated to investigate members of Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
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