The Ukrainian parlament has sent the draft law on improving the Bureau of Economic Security (10439) for a repeat second reading. Earlier, this document was criticised by anti-corruption activists and international partners.
As many as 232 MPs voted for the second reading of the bill, said MP Iryna Herashchenko. She noted that there were concerns about its principles for the formation of a competition commission to elect the head of the BES.
"There are no requirements for immediate re-certification of BES employees. There are no provisions on the analytical direction in the work of the renewed BES," the MP added.
The Anti-Corruption Action Centre wrote that the draft law in its current version did not provide for transparent competitions for senior positions in the BES and re-certification of employees.
"Justice Minister Denys Malyuska, who defended the government's draft law, called it inappropriate to urgently re-certify BES employees. He said that it could be carried out only after the end of the war," the AntAC noted.
On 21 February, the ambassadors of the Group of 7 countries shared their opinion on the BES reform. They outlined key requirements to the speaker of the parliament, the prime minister and the head of the President's Office, including a transparent open competition for the position of the new director of the Bureau.